Lessons in Love
by Blaquediamond Princess
Summary: A collection of Bleach One-shots centred around Ichigo and Orihime set in a slightly alternate universe. 9th chapter summary: The ones left behind always suffer the most. Yet hope, as they say, springs eternal. You just have to never lose sight of it. IchiHime. Slightly OOC. Slice of Life.
1. Lessons in Love

**_Hello everyone and welcome._**

**_I have decided to start a new collection of one shots for my Bleach plotbunnies, very much like my Fairy Tail collection of one shots. _**

**_These one shots will be centered around Ichigo and Orihime, but I will add chapters around other of my favorite Bleach pairings as well, so please look forward to it._**

**_Thank you in advance for your support!_**

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><p><strong><em>1. Lessons in Love<em>**

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><p>The light in the former nursery turned on when she stepped inside the darkened room with her 4 year old son in her arms, getting ready to put the boy to bed for the night.<p>

"I'm not sleepy, mommy..."

Orihime smiled tiredly as she placed him down in his bed and pulled the covers over him lovingly. "Little boys need to sleep, so they can grow up to be big and strong."

Sora rolled onto his side and stared at her wearily. "Did Mamo-chan have to go to bed, too?"

She smirked amusedly at that and nodded. "Your big brother is already fast asleep. That's why he's bigger than you."

"Did daddy sleep a lot, too?" Sora murmured drowsily.

"Yes, that's why he's so strong, you know?" she whispered, brushing a kiss on his forehead lovingly.

"I want to be strong like daddy, too..." the orange haired boy whispered before falling asleep.

Orihime sighed and stood up, quietly turning around to leave her youngest son's room. She'd barely closed the door behind her when her other son walked up to her, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Mom, dad is on his way back. He's hurt."

She took a moment to look up her husband's Spiritual signature, coming to the same conclusion. "It's nothing to worry about, love. Go back to bed," she replied very softly, moving away from Sora's door. "You have school in the morning." She walked up to him and turned him around. "Plus, your little brother has finally fallen asleep, so keep quiet."

Mamoru nodded and followed her down the hall back to his room, halting in the doorway to look back at her hesitantly. "Mom, you and dad are okay, right?"

Orihime smiled at her eldest son and dismissed his worries with the shake of her head. "What makes you think that we are not, Mamo-chan?"

Mamoru bit his lower lip and averted his gaze. "You fight almost every night lately, mom... And you rarely smile when he's here anymore."

She hid her startled expression behind another smile and approached him, kneeling in front of him. Her hands went over his messy mop of brown hair lovingly as she observed him for a moment. At 8 years old, Mamoru was amazingly perceptive, with no small thanks of course to his newly awakened Spiritual awareness. "Your father and I still love each other very much," she whispered, looking at him pleadingly "I'm sorry our talking late at night has you worried, but there will be times when your dad and I will argue, it's something people who love each other do sometimes. It certainly doesn't mean that we don't like each other anymore."

The young boy thought about it for a moment. "Like when you got really mad at me when I hurt Sora?"

Orihime nodded. "I got mad, but it didn't make me love you less. Nothing you or your dad do will ever make me love you less."

Mamoru returned her smile and moved in to hug her tightly, visibly relieved with her answer. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too, Mamo-chan," she replied, hugging him back and kissing him on his temple. "Off to bed now."

"Goodnight, mom."

"Goodnight, love," she whispered, letting him go. She waited for him to be in his bed before throwing him a kiss, turning off the light in his room and closing his door gently. She made her way down the hall and down the stairs leading to the ground floor and the incoming hall. Her senses picked up Ichigo's approach and she headed to the back of their house, past the dining room and into their sun room, where she chose to wait for him.

She saw him land in their garden a moment later, a deep gash in his left shoulder. Orihime opened the glass door leading to their porch and let him in silently. He sat down on the cane couch nearby with a sigh and she followed suit, lifting her hands to start healing him.

"Mamoru felt you getting hurt. It woke him," she softly spoke. "He knew about it before I did."

"Really?" Ichigo said regretfully. "I was distracted for just a second..."

"He's fine..." she whispered back reassuringly. "He understands what you have to do."

Ichigo sighed tiredly and looked at his wife. "He grew up so fast."

Orihime only glanced at him furtively, refusing to meet his eyes. "He did. Sora will be coming into his powers soon, too."

"Maybe he will take after you this time," he said with an excited grin.

"Mamoru could still take after me, who knows?" she reasoned, lowering her hands now that she had finished healing him.

Ichigo flexed his left arm and moved his shoulder tentatively. "Thank you," he said after she'd gotten ready to leave. It was obvious that she was still upset about their recent fight. "Hime?"

She turned around patiently, but didn't say a word.

"About last night," he began, standing up. "I'm sorry. I realized that I hadn't apologized for the things I said."

Her eyes rolled away from his and she closed them, shrugging. "We both said things we shouldn't have."

He walked up to her, her quiet indifference rendering him desperate. "We need to get out of this, Hime."

Orihime looked at him again and sighed softly. "I don't know what else to add to the topic. I can't see us having another child with you never being here... Your youngest son barely knows you, Ichigo."

Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed, turning away from her. They'd had this argument many times before. "What would you have me do? Cut down on my hours at the office? Find a job you have no objections with?"

"Do not bring Ikumi-san up again!" She interjected exasperatedly with a roll of her eyes. "And this is not about me!"

"I didn't ask to be made partner!" he told her, perhaps a bit too loudly. " But I would've thought that it would make you happy! The firm has expanded and I only accepted so you and the kids wouldn't have to worry about anything!"

Orihime only shook her head in an irritated manner, huffing in disbelieve. "If you're never around, what's the point?" she quietly said, wrapping her arms on her chest with another shrug and getting ready to walk on.

He walked up to her quickly and grabbed her by an arm, turning her around. "Don't go turn this into something that it isn't, Hime," he said in a low tone, staring into her angered eyes.

She pulled her arm out of his hold and stepped into his personal space tauntingly. "Really? Pray tell then, what is this truly about? Is money the only reason why you spend so little time with your family? Because it's not the Soul Society, they haven't been in contact for months."

"For the love of-"

"You're the one who brought it up, so explain!" she yelled, pushing him away from her. "What is this about? You seem to think that you know what I'm thinking, so tell me!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes with a loud grunt. "Do you hear yourself, woman?!" he hollered. "There is no way that she's interested in me that way!"

"I never said that she was," she retorted cooly, eyes hard. "But you seem to think that there's a chance that she is. I know you."

He closed his eyes and sighed out deeply, realizing that he might have made things worse for himself. And he couldn't deny that he had sensed some form of attentiveness coming from his longtime employer, which he'd always brushed off as mere professional interest. But if Orihime's insticts told him what he'd suspected for a while, then it was probably true. His wife's instincts and intuition were some of the few things he never took lightly. "There's nothing between her and me," he told her gently, looking her in the eyes, wanting for her to see the truth there. "Only work. I have no interest in her whatsoever, Hime. You know that. You're the mother of my beautiful children, there's no way I would ever find what you give me with another woman. The thought doesn't even come up in my mind to go look elsewhere. It's you that I love, who I vowed to share the rest of my life with and with whom I share half of my soul with."

"Then what is keeping you from coming home before your children go to bed? Your Shinigami duties?" she asked, sighing and wrapping her arms around herself, hugging herself tightly. "You have a family of your own now, Ichigo. You're a father and a husband. Your sons deserve to be put first in your list of priorities! If that woman is keeping you from coming home at a decent hour every night, then you should tell her that." She watched him fidget uneasily and scratch the back of his hair, knowing that he was giving in, albeit reluctantly. "Uryuu and Sado would gladly take over from you if you would only let them. They understand the situation you're in."

"So you want me to stop exorcising Hollows now, is that it?" he asked her softly, taking a step closer to her. "I had no way of avoiding a confrontation tonight, Hime."

"I gathered that when Kon arrived before you did," Orihime calmly spoke, nodding in the direction of their bedroom. She then lifted weary eyes up to him and shook her head pleadingly. "Your sons are 8 and 4 years old. I'm not asking you stop being who you are, I'm just asking you to think about them. Think about the impact your constant absence will have on their lives. Especially if they have no one to relate to concerning their Shinigami powers. They need you."

He continued to stare at her while her words echoed in his head, the despair in her eyes hard for him to bear. Over the years, they both have had to switch their priorities in life, something that happens naturally when you become parents. As the needs of their little family began to grow, so did their responsibilities towards their children of course and the people around them. It was a hectic life, but not one without fulfilment and joy, or at least that's what he'd thought until recently. When did the distance between him and his family grow so wide? "And what about you? Do you still need me?"

She averted her eyes and stepped away from him, choosing not to see the hurt on his face. "This isn't about me," she stated again.

"Of course it is," he whispered back, closing the small distance between them again. "You've been effacing yourself from this situation, making it seem like the kids are the only ones having a problem with the way I spend my time away from home."

Orihime locked her arms over her chest and turned to her side, resting her shoulder against the archway separating their dining room from the sunroom. She never said a word.

"We haven't been intimate in two weeks," Ichigo remarked quietly, looking at her unresponsive frame sadly. "I miss you. I miss making love to you. Tell me what it is you need, Hime. For once in your life, ask something of me for yourself."

A tear found its way down her face and she wiped it away in an annoyed manner, biting her lower lip to fight against the rest of them threatening to spill over. For the past few weeks, there had been something eating at her, an issue she did not know how to address him about. Because of their constant bickering whenever they had some time alone, she'd never really wanted to bring it up out of fear of making things worse. It was clear now however that they had come to a point where things couldn't get much worse. But was it the time to tell him about it, though? "I..." she began but stopped, shaking her head. "There's nothing..."

Those last words hurt him, not because she said them, but because he realised that he not only had made himself less available for his children, but for his own wife as well, more than he had thought. "Please talk to me... I want to know what I can do to remedy this..."

She rested her eyes on him now and she figured that he misinterpreted her words. The anguish in his expression and words however did not leave her unaffected. "It's not that I can't talk to you about it... I just wish in a way... That I didn't feel like this," she tried to explain, desperately trying to find the right words, her tears now flowing. "When I found out that I was pregnant with Mamoru, it was the happiest day of my life. I always wanted to give you a child, a family. I always wanted to be a mom and that dream came true and everything was amazing and I was so happy."

Ichigo frowned, trying to understand. "What changed...?" he whispered gently, moving to stand in front of her, searching for her eyes.

Orihime looked at him now, lips trembling. "I did," she said apologetically, sobbing quietly when she saw his eyes grow pained. "It's so stupid..." she sniffled, wiping away more tears. "I love being a mom," she whispered, reaching for his face with both her hands, wanting to reassure him, even if her words hurt. "I love being your wife," she confessed with a watery smile as he smirked briefly. "And somehow, I thought that that would be enough... But it isn't... And I hate that it isn't!"

Understanding dawned on Ichigo and he cracked a relieved smile, taking her in a strong embrace. "Orihime. There's nothing wrong with wanting more than being a housewife. I'm happy that you want more."

"I want to pursue my Master degree in Psychology and help people that way... Maybe open a practice after a while," she whispered over his shoulder, hugging him back. "I thought that wanting time away from my children would be frowned upon and with you being gone all the time it made me envy and resent you at the same time."

He smiled warmly in her hair and kissed her temple, retreating from the embrace to look at her. "What is this? The 1950's? Or feudal Japan? I never stopped you from getting a job, did I?"

Orihime blushed in embarrassment and chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I know, but I've always been of the belief that a mother needs to take care of her children and her husband. Your mom was a stay at home mother, so I thought that that was what you were ok with."

"You're not my mother," he simply stated, brushing her tears from her face with his thumbs. "It's your life, do what you want with it. I'll support you to the best of my abilities as your devoted husband. We can hammer out the details of how to make you going back to school work with the kids."

She smiled happily at him, staring at him in wonder. "Are you sure?"

"I'll cut down on my work and delegate my Shinigami duties to Ishida and Sado," he stated with a nod. "If it'll make the mother of my children happy, then I will do whatever it takes. Now that I understand your feelings, there's nothing I won't do."

She kissed him passionately, laughing blissfully when he returned the kiss with fervor. "What about that little girl you've been asking me for?"

"I'll ask you again in two years, after you're done with your Master," he shrugged. "We'll need time to adjust to our new work schedules anyway."

"That was easy," Orihime remarked, surprised.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I need to figure out how to be a good and present dad to the boys first. I can't push the raising of Masaki solely onto your shoulders too."

She grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "Masaki, huh...?"

He shrugged again and smirked. "Just thought I'd throw it out there."

Orihime laughed and kissed him once more. "I like it."

"Alright then," he murmured, staring at her lips. "Now, Mrs Kurosaki, I feel like we have some more making up to do. Like upstairs, in our bed."

She giggled behind a hand and shook her head amusedly when he planted his lips in the side of her throat and took suckle there. "Not beating around the bush, are we?"

"What bush?" he murmured impatiently, one hand already cupping one of her breasts wantonly through her chiffon shirt. "You're so beautiful..." he whispered, pulling the bow of her dress shirt loose teasingly before moving in to pull it out of her pencil skirt and kissing her again, unbuttoning her shirt and letting it fall down her arms.

She embraced his broad shoulders and kissed him back, caressing her tongue over his sultrily as his hands slid up underneath her skirt and up her thighs. "I love you," she murmured against his lips, arching her back against the wall when his strong hands ripped her flimsy underwear apart.

He watched her eyes roll into the back of her head when he pressed two fingers against her and gently massaged her swollen bud, groaning lustfully in the side of her neck as he slid them inside her moist warmth. "Hime," he murmured breathlessly, moving his fingers inside of her faster in time with her hushed moans and gasps.

"The kids will hear us," she whispered, wincing at a dangerously pleasurable stroke. Her hands shot out to rest on his arms and she whimpered, moaning her pleasure. "Ichigo...!".

He ignored her protest and instead removed his fingers for a taste of her, smirking at the blush of arousal that had spread over her lovely features, turning her into the sultry goddess he knew she could be. Her heaving chest was barely contained in her satin and lace balconette bra, her erected nipples threatening to spill over the cupline of the garment. "You're the hottest woman in town, you know that, right?" he throatily murmured, mouth suckling on the cup border of her left breast while his hands pulled down the straps of the bra. "I'm so lucky you're mine..."

She moaned in approval, arching her back to give him more access, wanting for him to ravage her more. He wasn't the only one who'd missed their intimacy. His lovemaking drove her mad with need, his touch the only one that turned her on this much. A content sigh escaped her swollen lips when his finally found her nipple and he took suckle, alternating between hard and soft tongue strokes. She reached for the back of her bra and took it off, pressing his face against her breast quickly after. "That's it..." she murmured, locking eyes with him as he continued to work his mouth and teeth on her nipple, making another shot of arousal pool in between her legs.

Ichigo moaned at the sound of her soft cry of pleasure, switching his attention to her other breast while he worked on the back of her skirt, pulling down its zipper. When it hit the floor he moved up her body to capture her lips a last time in a searing kiss before stepping away from her and watching her perfect, naked body step out of the pool of her clothes now gathered on the floor. She was still breathing heavily as she looked at him from the other side of the archway, taking off Zangetsu from his back and pulling his hakama loose. He approached her again, stepping out of the pants and taking her into his arms for another breath stealing kiss while she pulled his obi loose and pulled down the white leggings he wore underneath his gi. She let her hands run up his now naked chest, marveling at the sight of those toned muscles of his that made her mouth water.

Orihime gave in to her urge and planted her lips on the upper half of his chest, kissing her way down to a nipple and taking suckle before moving to the other, moaning in time with his wordless grunts of approval. She locked eyes with him wantonly before she continued her trip down his torso, lowering herself on her knees eagerly.

"You're so sexy, Hime..." he murmured breathlessly, mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at her lifting her breasts to rub against his raging erection, looking at him with a mixture of innocent wonder and lewd sexual desire. And then he almost lost it right then and there when she licked the tip of his head with a low moan, her small tongue flickering against his overheated skin with her milky white breasts holding his erection up in the background. "You're driving me insane..." he whispered, chuckling when she giggled.

"Can't wait to have you inside of me," she whispered encouragingly, eyes on his weeping hard-on before she took him into her mouth without warning, taking him as deep as she could, humming to herself as she did.

Both his palms hit the wall above them and he threw his head in his shoulders as he bit back a yell of how good her mouth felt around him, loving the contrast between her wet tongue and the soft, warm sensation of her breasts against his scrotum. And of course there were the sounds she was making that didn't help with his restraint.

Orihime pulled back and let him slip from her mouth when she felt him tense up, chuckling to herself. She knew her passionate husband well; he never lasted whenever she chose to pleasure him this way. She laughed when he grabbed her by her elbows and helped her on her feet effortlessly, sighing into the kiss that followed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in anticipation of what she knew was next.

He smirked against her lips and took hold of the back of her upper thighs, lifting them up to go around his waist, inside the folds of the gi he was still wearing.

"Take me."

And he did, swiftly and hard, groaning in time with her surprised gasp, his fingers now digging into the flesh of her bare ass. "This was too long overdue..."

She arched her back in response, her body slightly quivering in his hold, a loving smile on her lips. "It's all yours..." she moaned breathlessly as he began to move.

"Hime..." he murmured in between her breasts, nuzzling her soft skin lazily while his hips worked in fast, whipping thrusts, his need for her only growing the more she softly cried his name and whispered encouraging words in his ear.

This was where they belonged, together, in love and devoted only to one and other. It'd been ten years and still nothing felt quite as right as when they made love, renewing their promises each time. The smallest of touches, the briefest of glances was enough to make their passions for each other run high, setting their desire aflame.

With each push of his manhood inside of her, her body was singing, lost in his unrelenting rhythm and cherishing every moment of it. Her trembling thighs pulled him closer, needing him deeper inside, to fill her up completely, to promise again and again that she was his, that there would never come an end to this ecstatic feeling of joy and bliss and that every caress of his calloused fingers were meant for her and her only. This was the purest way in which he showed her his love and need for her and she welcomed it open-hearted, greedily taking however much he could give her.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she noted that the sounds they were making were borderline animalistic and that they needed to keep it down, but she couldn't. He made her feel all woman, from head to toe; she felt as desirable as she felt powerful and protected at the same time. His worship of her body made every fiber of her cry out for him.

The soft smacking of flesh against flesh echoed through the small archway as their cries of passion subsided and they worked hard to reach that coveted peak, wishing to climax close together.

Her flushed face was contorted in concentration with her mouth hanging open in a soundless gasp, her long brown hair sticking to her damp skin sexily. He wanted to keep looking at her, having found that watching her come undone turned him on to no end. He had to bit back a groan however when he felt her contract around him, indicating that she was precariously close. It wouldn't take much for him to join her and so he stopped trying to hold back and kissed her deeply, drinking in her mewling moans and savoring her throaty, wordless whimpers when rapture took her, letting her guide him through the maelstrom of their joint orgasmic experience.

"I love you," he murmured against her forehead afterwards, sitting on the bottom step of the archway with her sitting in his lap, clad in nothing but his black gi. He grinned at her drowsy response, caressing a kiss against her skin.

"Let's spend the day together tomorrow," Orihime whispered against his chest, smoothing the fabric of the white undergarment Ichigo was still wearing with a hand. The rest of their discarded clothing lay in a pile in her lap. "I promised Mamo-chan and Sora-chan that we'd go to the park. Join us."

Ichigo smiled at the thought of taking the day off with his family and nodded. "How about we go to that new amusement park by the beach? There's two of us, so you won't be overwhelmed."

Orihime lifted a skeptic eyebrow at that. "You think that you coming along will keep them from being overwhelming?"

He frowned amusedly and shrugged questioningly. "Yeah...?"

"Mamoru I can handle, he's the responsible and protective kind, just like you. Sora is the crazy one."

Ichigo laughed and tightened his hold on her. "Just like you?"

"He's a handful!" she concluded with an aggravated sigh, making him laugh harder. "When I picked him up from school this afternoon, he'd managed to glue his right hand to his hair. Again!"

"Wait, didn't he do it earlier this week too?" he chuckled, beginning to stand.

"He did it three times this week! His teacher is running out of places to hide the stuff..." she said, mentally sweatdropping. "Honestly... What made him not get it the first time? He almost has no hair left for me to cut the glue out from..."

Ichigo smirked softly, now rounding their dinner table and entering their welcoming hall to take the stairs to the first floor. "Sounds like it's been a long week."

"The longest..." she yawned, snuggling closer in his arms. "But tomorrow should make up for all of that crap..."

"It will," he replied, stepping onto the last step and turning into their hallway on his right. "I'll be there with you."

She smiled and nodded sleepily, already beginning to doze off.

He watched her fall asleep in front of the opened doorway to their room for a few moments before he pressed another loving kiss on her forehead and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

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><p><em><strong>On to the next one... <strong>_

_**-BDP-**_


	2. The Sakuras of Winter

_2. The Sakuras of Winter_

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><p>Her emerald cut diamond engagement ring glistened in the lights of the kitchen, the small finger it was resting on tapping nervously against her lower lip.<p>

"Well, I would think that it makes sense. I can understand where Byakuya is coming from," Orihime said, turning away from the stove after checking on the roast she had cooking in its oven. She placed the meatfork on a wooden board on the kitchen island in front of her and shrugged, giving her friend an encouraging smile. "He and your sister didn't get the chance to have children." She took off her oven mitts and put them on the counter behind her. "As it stands, you getting married is a chance for the Kuchiki clan to have more heirs. Byakuya won't marry again any time soon, he's still in love with your sister. So it's up to you and Renji to continue the Kuchiki line."

Rukia cocked her head to the side with an indecisive pout on her features. "I know... Apparently I just never really thought about all of the implications Renji and I wanting to get married would bring."

Orihime rounded the kitchen island and took a seat on the stool next to her friend's and took her left hand in both hers, staring at the gorgeous ring with another smile. "What does Renji say?"

"He did not expect to be offered a place next to mine in the Kuchiki clan. He doesn't really know what to do either..." Rukia said and then sighed, closing her eyes. "The Yuinou* was yesterday and although we haven't given my brother an answer yet, we need to decide before the wedding."

"That would be best," Orihime said with a chuckle, receiving a grin back. "But what do you want?" she whispered softly, letting go of her hand and reaching for her glass of white wine on the right.

Rukia crossed her legs on the stool and readjusted the skirt of her dark blue cocktail dress absent-mindedly, her high-heeled right foot bouncing up and down restlessly. "What I want is to be with Renji, but I want to make my brother happy as well," she answered with a desolate shrug before burying her face in her hands. "This is impossible..."

Orihime sighed in comprehension and moved Rukia's glass of red wine pointedly closer to her. "Drink."

Rukia did as told and grabbed her glass, taking a sip. "Did you have the same problem when you married into the Kurosaki family?"

Orihime had to think about it since it'd been 5 years since she and Ichigo had married, and almost 7 since the proposal. "I don't remember dealing with the exact same problem," she began with a small grin. "But I did get my aunt to meet Ichigo's family."

"How did that go...?"

"We didn't have the elaborate Yuinou like you and Renji had yesterday; we had a simple family dinner with her at the Kurosaki house."

"Betrothal traditions sure have changed..." Rukia remarked. "I almost felt like I was getting sold to Renji."

Orihime chuckled and gave her a semi nod after having sipped from her wine. "Believe me, I would've prefered feeling like that than the way I felt when dinner was over."

"What happened?"

"Well, she basically told Ichigo's father that I was his problem now and that she was relieved that she wasn't obligated to send me money anymore, that she could finally put her hard earned cash to better use," she said, staring into her glass as she remembered her painful embarrassment of that night. "I don't think I ever saw Ichigo's father angrier than on that day. Ichigo too."

Rukia could only stare at her in disbelief for a few moments. "Wow..."

"Yeah," Orihime whispered, scratching the back of her head with a shrug as she put her glass back on the kitchen island. "Apparently my dad, her brother, had put her in his will as my caretaker should he die and if I had no other living family members. She was promptly dis-invited from the wedding by Ichigo and I was practically adopted by Isshin that same night." She laughed happily at the memory and her eyes fell on her own engagement ring. "Ichigo had already bought me a ring other than this one, you know?"

Rukia looked down at the ring as well and grabbed Orihime's hand. "I've always admired it, it's an unusual cut, isn't it?"

"It's called a 'princess cut' lotus ring," Orihime explained. "It's the ring Isshin gave Masaki."

"Really?" Rukia said in a whisper. "It's so beautiful..." she said, staring at the white gold ring with the princess cut diamond set on a bed of diamond encrusted 'petals' designed into the shape of the flower. "And fitting for you."

Orihime's eyes softened and she brought her left hand to her heart before covering it with her other lovingly. "Isshin gave it to Ichigo to give to me." She closed her eyes and smiled, unknowingly shedding tears. "Ichigo had already explained the meaning of the ring to me after he proposed, but I only got the true symbolism of it after Isshin told me the story behind it.

He told me that Masaki grew up in an environment she did not choose, one where she felt like she did not belong, but much like the lotus flower that grows in muddy soil, she managed to flower into a beautiful, kindhearted and loving woman, surpassing all the difficulties of the situation she was in. He said that a ring like this belonged to a woman who never stops fighting for her freedom and for the ones she loves."

Rukia sighed at the romantic representation behind the ring and smiled at her friend, reaching out for the kitchen paper roll to wipe away her tears. "He couldn't have been more right."

Orihime opened her eyes and chuckled in embarrassment, shaking her head and taking the paper tissue Rukia was holding to dry her face. "Ichigo had the plain band customized with these diamonds falling down its sides."

"So gorgeous," Rukia replied with a sigh. "And what happened to the other ring Ichigo bought you?"

"He returned it and put the money towards our first apartment," Orihime said with a smirk. "It was for the best anyway; I was in my last year of college and he was the only one of us working full-time, so we could've used every bit of money back then."

Rukia grinned back and then lifted her own left hand to stare at her diamond encrusted, split band engagement ring. "Renji told me that the split band symbolises the time we spent together in Rukongai and then apart in the Sereitei. The bands joining with the diamond symbolises where we are now and where we're headed."

"That's unbelievably thoughtful and beautiful,"Orihime said, uncrossing her in black faux-leather skinny pants clad legs and slid down the stool. She then grinned cheekily. "Our men may not look it, but they do take the time to think things like these through. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Byakuya helped Renji with the choice of the ring."

Rukia laughed and nodded, turning herself around in her seat when Orihime went back to the stove to check on the food that was now almost done. "I'm sure he had to run his choices by him at one point or another..." she then quieted, a thought suddenly coming to her. "I've read that it is sometimes custom in the real world for women to keep their maiden names when they marry."

Orihime suddenly emerged from below the kitchen island's surface on the other side with a huge rectangular ovenpan on which the deliciously glazed porc roast was still slightly cooking and blew the hair that had fallen over her face out of the way. "Yeah," she said breathlessly, placing the pan on the stone surface of the island and taking off the oven mitts again. "Why?"

"Because," Rukia began, getting off her stool as well now and walking to the cupboards on Orihime's right. "I could keep the Kuchiki name and Renji could keep his, but still be a part of the clan without joining it completely."

Orihime thought about it for a moment as she grabbed the ceramic dish Rukia handed her to start scooping up the potatoes from the roast pan. "So like, would you hyphen it for you children?"

The smaller woman now placed the frying pan containing the broccoli next to the pan on the kitchen island and looked at her friend. "Yeah. What do you think?"

"I'm completely okay with that," Orihime answered. "So you would be the bridge between your brother's house and your husband's, right?"

"Ugh, but that will bring problems when we have children..." the black haired Shinigami whispered in realization. "Of which house would they be the heirs?"

"Both?" Orihime whispered with a thoughtful shrug before moving in to hug her. "But I honestly think that things will solve themselves one way or another. Byakuya may be rigid in his ways at times, but he is also open to change when he's convinced into it. He loves you more than anything, Rukia. Probably even more than the name of his House."

Rukia blushed as she let her go and hid her smile close to her chest bashfully, scooping up the broccoli to place them in another, matching ceramic plate. "Yeah, but the real problem are the family elders and councelors."

Orihime walked to the fridge and took out four ceramic bowls containing the cucumber crème soup they made earlier . "So?" she said with a smile. "He's defied them before; what makes you think that he won't do so again to protect 'his pride'?"

Rukia stood silent after hearing Orihime's heartwarming words and sighed again. "Renji wants to make his own way in the world. Succeed by his own strength and will. I know that getting the Kuchiki name is not something he wants; it's not in his nature."

"Then tell your brother that," Orihime urged gently, pushing in the buttons to start heating up the cups of soup in the microwave two at a time. "He'll listen, I'm certain. And as Renji's Captain, he may already suspect it."

Nodding agreeingly, Rukia turned to the stove again and picked up the next pot with vegetables. "You're right. Thanks, Orihime," she whispered, smiling at her.

"Come on, let's cover all of this food up and serve the soup," Orihime smiled back, reaching for a drawer and taking out the plastic foil. "I'm sure that they've finished dressing the table and that they're hungry by now."

"I'm surprised they haven't come to complain yet," Rukia remarked with a grin, setting to work.

"That won't last," Orihime said with a chuckle, walking back to the microwave when its alarm went off to put in the two other deep dishes.

And sure enough, the moment the microwave timer went off they both saw Ichigo walk into the kitchen with Renji in tow. "We're starving out here! Feed us!"

Rukia laughed and Orihime shook her head amusedly. "I know, come help me with the soup. Renji, grab the loaf of bread in that cupboard, will you? Rukia when you're done with the asparagus, please check the drawer next to you and take out the wooden bread board you find in it," she commanded, taking a moment to check if she would find it. "Yes, that one. Could you pick up the bread knife from the knifeholder also? It's a large serrated one."

Ichigo then pressed a kiss against the side of her head lovingly and followed her to the other end of the kitchen to grab a tray on which to put the damping soup bowls she'd already placed on the counter. "It all smells amazing," he told her, earning a kiss on his cheek.

"Did you check with Tatsuki?" she whispered, pressing in the buttons on the microwave to quickly heat up the remaining bowls of soup. She then picked up one of the warm bowls and placed it on the tray he was holding up.

"Yeah, Mamoru is fine," Ichigo replied, watching her put the other dish in his care. "And I asked Sado to stay with her, so if anything were to happen..."

"You read my mind," Orihime said in relief, walking over to the fridge again to retrieve a small plate with butter. She placed it on the tray when the timer for the microwave went off again. "Can you pick up the rest of the soup? Then take those to the table, I'll be right there. I need to keep the rest of the food warm first."

He nodded and did as told, walking out of the kitchen and into the dining room a while later where Rukia and Renji were preparing the bread. He placed the tray with the soup on a nearby dresser and proceeded with putting the bowls on the designated dishes on the artfully decorated table.

"Oh, by the way, Ichigo," Rukia began, carefully taking the bowl Ichigo handed her to place down on a dish near her on the other side of the table. "I've had a chance to talk to Captain Ukitake about your audience request with the Head Commander."

"You have?" Ichigo replied, handing her the last bowl. "When will Kyouraku-san be able to see me?"

"The day after tomorrow," she replied, putting the soup down. "Whenever you can make it, he's willing to make time for you."

"That's kind of him," he reasoned, picking up the tray again after he'd put the butter in the middle of the four damping bowls. "Thanks, Rukia."

"It's the least he can do, after you saved our asses again for the umpteenth time," Renji remarked, rounding the rectangular table to take a seat next to Rukia. "What do you need to see him for anyway?"

"I need to talk to him about reducing my Shinigami duties temporarily," Ichigo answered, turning his head in the direction of the sound of Orihime's high-heeled feet tapping on the tiled kitchen floor. He sat himself down on the dresser side of the table, so he faced Renji, leaving the chair closer to the kitchen free for his wife. "I have other, if not more important, duties now next to being a Substitute Shinigami."

They all watched Orihime enter the dining room, the apron she'd been wearing put away, showing off her cute, see-through white blouse and the matching sleeveless top she wore underneath. In her hands she held hers and Rukia's filled up wineglasses. She handed Rukia's glass to her and sat down at the table with a small sigh, gingerly running her fingers through her low side pony tail. "What are we talking about?"

"Ichigo's been granted an audience with the Head Commander this Sunday," Rukia answered, sitting down across from her.

"Great, we've been waiting for an answer," Orihime said, smiling before gesturing for all of them to please start eating.

Renji reached for a slice of bread and nodded reassuringly, "I'm sure he won't see any objections to your request. You have a kid now, it's only normal."

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it," Rukia added confidently, accepting the slice of bread her fiancé was holding up for her.

"It's just with Mamoru still being so small, we don't want to leave anything to chance," Ichigo explained.

"Or keep dumping him on our friends whenever an emergency comes up," Orihime added, looking at her husband who smirked back. "And I just feel safer knowing that Ichigo is here, even with all the barriers Hachi put up around the house."

"Totally understandable," Renji said, nodding. "I for one think you're in your rights to ask for some time off." He took a spoonful of soup and drank it, expressing his pleasure with a surprised grunt.

"This cucumber soup is delicious, Orihime," Rukia translated, making the other couple chuckle.

"Thank you, it took many a try to get it right..." she replied, smiling when she felt Ichigo's encouraging hand on her knee under the table. "So, to return to the previous topic, when can we expect to see smaller versions of you two?"

Ichigo grinned and reached for his beer to take a sip. "Yeah, now that you're all geared up for marriage, do you have an idea of if and when you want any?"

Biting off a soaked piece of bread and munching on it for a moment, Renji nodded. "I would like to get started as soon as we can."

Rukia sat back with her glass of wine and laughed to herself. "Oh, I'm sure you do," she chuckled, taking a sip.

They all laughed and she continued. "Kids are definitely something we both want, but as he said it'll have to wait until we actually can."

"But won't motherhood interfere with your lieutenant duties?" Orihime questioned, sipping from her spoon.

"Not only that, but I sort of get the idea that Byakuya will have a hard time letting you return to the corps if you were to get pregnant," Ichigo said, bringing a spoonful of soup to his mouth. "I mean no offense, Rukia."

Rukia and Renji looked at each other and smiled before she took the word again. "If and when I become pregnant, I will take a step back. At least until our child or children are grown enough for me to return."

"Yeah, it's an arrangement we already discussed with both Captain Kuchiki and Captain Ukitake," Renji added, having seen the surprised expressions of their friends.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Orihime exclaimed giddily, clapping her hands. "If and when you have your baby, please let he or she come over to play with Mamoru sometime when he or she is big enough! I could really use more mommy friends!"

Both Ichigo and Renji chuckled.

Rukia nodded. "If we can make it possible, you bet!"

"Yay!" Orihime whispered happily, taking a spoonful of soup.

"So, now that we've talked about that," Renji said with a grin, putting aside his empty bowl and reaching for another slice of bread and the butter. "There's something Rukia and I would like to ask you guys," he finished spreading the butter on his slice and placed it down on his plate. He looked to his right at her and smiled when she nodded encouragingly.

"At our Yuinou yesterday, it was decided that our wedding would take place two months from now, on the last Saturday of January," Renji started, smirking at Orihime's excited gasp. "Yeah, but that's not what we want to talk about right now. Well, it's related to it of course, but-"

"What my soon to be husband is trying to ask," Rukia interrupted amusedly, "is if you two would like to come to the ceremony as Renji's side of the family?"

Renji was blushing in embarrassment by then. "Yeah, I mean yesterday it was fine it being just the three of us, but I would feel really weird if it were just me at the wedd-"

"We'd love to," Orihime said gently, smiling softly as she slid her right hand into Ichigo's left on the table. "And we're honored that you would ask us."

Ichigo nodded once at his friend and sent Rukia a friendly wink. "But I have to wonder, why not ask your friends on the other side? I'm sure some of your lieutenant pals wouldn't mind-"

"Because the both of you are the most civilised out of my group of friends by far," Renji answered without missing a heartbeat, making Orihime laugh behind a hand.

"Can't argue with that logic," Ichigo agreed with a deadpanned expression.

"So, I just want to check with you guys if you know what happens at a traditional Japanese wedding?" Rukia then asked, taking half of the buttered bread Renji was offering her.

Orihime smiled, endeared at seeing the repeated gesture between them. "I know a little bit from watching drama's on tv, but I'm sure they're nothing alike?" she said questioningly, looking up at Ichigo in wonder.

"Please tell us what to expect," he asked with a small chuckle. "Because I think I remember that the ceremony is supposed to be for the closest family members only, right?"

Rukia nodded. "Only the bridal procession is allowed in the shrine's ceremony room. So the two of you, the Kuchiki clan, the shrine maidens and the Shinto priest get access. Unlike your Western-style wedding, a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony is much more involving and intimate for all of those attending it."

"What about the rest of the guests?" Orihime asked, tapping her husband on his shoulder for a piece of bread.

"They'll be waiting in the reception room of the Kuchiki mansion," Renji explained. "They won't get to see us until Rukia and I are married. We'll have a rehearsal in a few weeks and you will get the details then."

"Okay," she nodded, tearing her piece of bread in two and dipping it into her soup. "It indeed sounds much more different from our wedding."

"We didn't even celebrate ours here, remember?" Ichigo said, shaking his head amusedly. "We got to go to England**." He then stilled when he suddenly recalled an unpleasant detail. "Wait, Yumichika isn't planning yours too, is he?"

"Fuck no," Renji answered bluntly with a scowl and a shake of his head before drinking from his beer.

"We had so much fun though," Rukia chuckled, remembering. "I wish I could throw a bachelorette party like yours, Orihime!"

Orihime took a sip from her wine and laughed. "I don't think Byakuya would like having drunk, naked women traipsing around his home in the middle of the night."

Renji cleared his throat and tried to hide his blush behind a hand inconspicuously. "Yeah, you've never really told us what happened that night."

"And we never will," Orihime said in a sing-song voice, grinning behind her glass at Rukia.

Rukia lifted her glass and ticked it against Orihime's. "It's a secret we'll take to our graves."

"Yeah, give it up already you perv!" Ichigo commented with a smug smile. "You're getting married, you shouldn't be saying stuff like that!"

"What are you smirking smugly for, Pervy McPerv? You think I didn't see your eyes light up when I asked her about it?!" Renji retorted, grinning venomously at his friend.

"Oh, he has asked me about my bridal shower many times," Orihime said en passant, calmly lifting her almost empty bowl of soup to sip it.

"Hime!" Ichigo protested, making Rukia laugh and Renji exclaim triumphantly.

"Hey, Rukia, we could go do a ladies night out before or after the wedding, here in the Real World," Orihime suggested, ignoring her husband's annoyed expression comically and putting her empty bowl aside. "It might get tricky getting in contact with Nel, though."

"I'm sure Urahara has way of getting a hold of her," Ichigo said reassuringly, putting his empty cup in hers. "It'd be fun seeing her again."

"That's a fantastic idea!" Rukia nodded, finishing her soup. "Let's start organizing it as soon as we can!"

"I feel like I haven't seen any of the ladies anymore since I've become a mom," Orihime said softly, smiling excitedly as she reached out for Rukia's hand, grinning when she grabbed hers and squeezed it. "This is going to be so much fun! And we can go Kimono shopping for the wedding with all the girls!" she added, beginning to pick up the three empty bowls from the table.

Rukia grabbed her bowl and stood in time with her friend. "We could have a fitting at the Kuchiki Manor with the tailor, so everyone can pick their colours and motifs."

"Oh my God, that would be amazing! We could make an entire day out of it!"

"Oh, oh! Then we can make my bridal shower celebration into an entire weekend thing!"

The two men only stared at their women as they retreated back into the kitchen with the empty bowls and their shower ideas that grew more extravagant with each passing moment.

"Do they even realize how much all of that is going to cost?" Ichigo commented with a small chuckle, sitting back with his beer in hand.

Renji smirked and grabbed his beer from the table. "Hey, as long as I'm not paying for it, I don't care."

Ichigo laughed and cleared his throat, placing his half empty glass back. "So what are you going to do about what you told me before?"

Staring into his drink, the vice Captain of the Sixth Squad sighed. "Talk to my Captain and soon to be brother in law about it."

"I'm sure he'll understand where you're coming from," Ichigo replied with a nod. "Rukia just wants to be with you."

"But she still very much cares about what her brother says and thinks," Renji retorted, sitting back as well. "And I just want for her to be happy, I've always wanted nothing but happiness for her."

Ichigo smiled at his friend's words. "And she knows that. She trusts you and that's the most important thing in a marriage. Believe me," he told him, nodding. "It'll work itself out, you'll see."

Renji returned his smile and nodded quietly to himself. "You've done well for yourself, you know Ichigo."

The Substitute Shinigami looked up in surprise at the unexpected compliment. "You think so?"

"Yeah," the other Shinigami confirmed with a chuckle. "You have a beautiful wife, a beautiful son, a beautiful home... You've come a long way from that shitty brat you were when I first met you 12 years ago."

"The same is true for you," Ichigo joked sharing a chuckle. He then grabbed his beer again and quieted when he thought about the long journey he'd been on since he was 15. "It hasn't been easy..."

"I'm sure it hasn't been," Renji agreed. "But you and her look very happy and very much in love."

He smiled again at that, his expression now turning thoughtful. "We've had to work hard to get to this place, believe me." Ichigo began, catching the other male's attention. "After our wedding - well, that same night, I found out that she was pregnant with our first baby. I told you about this, right?"

Renji nodded. "Yeah, you told me a few weeks after."

Ichigo drank some of his beer and nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, when we lost her it almost broke not only our marriage, but ourselves as well. I blamed myself, she blamed herself and it took us almost a year to get through the loss. You never get over something like this. Not really. But we remembered the vows we made to each other and decided to start over. That year was without a doubt the hardest of my life. But it is thanks to that same year that she and I are still going strong."

"Mamoru must've been a blessing and a relief to the both of you," Renji remarked.

Ichigo laughed and nodded. "Like you wouldn't believe. Throughout her pregnancy we spent as much time together as we could, I was constantly fretting over her. Exorcising Hollows became my obsession during those months; I did anything in my power to keep my wife and our precious son safe."

Renji grinned. "I'd be the same. Well, probably will be."

"It is the scariest thing and the most exciting thing at the same time to see her carry a pregnancy to full term," Ichigo said smiling proudly.

"And being a dad?" the redhead asked, intrigued.

Rukia and Orihime entered the dining room holding all kinds of delicious looking dishes and he stood to assist them. "It's one of the most fulfilling experiences. You'll see," he said with a grin before kissing Orihime on her cheek lovingly.

That's when their house phone rang in the welcoming hall and Ichigo went to pick it up after he'd helped placing the vegetable dishes on the table.

"Renji, can you help me with the roast?" Orihime asked, beginning to walk back towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, sure," the redhead said, pressing a kiss against Rukia's left temple when he passed her.

She grinned back at him and got ready to sit herself back down on her seat when she saw a light coming from behind her in the garden, past the sunroom. A relieved smile formed on her lips and she descended the few steps leading into the glass room and opened it's backdoor to wait for the messenger to come through the Senkaimon-gate.

Two young housemaidens from the Kuchiki-clan appeared a few moments later, both holding lavishly decorated baskets each containing a small bonsai tree, one with pale flowers and the other crimson, white and red paper origami figures and a silver scroll on a bed of moss at its roots. "My Lady Rukia, we received the items you asked for."

"Thank you," she said, taking the baskets from them happily. "You can tell my brother that the Kurosaki's have agreed to our proposition."

"Yes, my Lady," the women said in unison, bowing.

She nodded once and turned back around, looking over the flowers and the paper figures critically as she entered the house and the Senkaimon closed and disappeared behind her.

"Oh, have they arrived?" Renji asked giddily, having put the roast on the table a moment before and now hurrying down the steps to assist his fiancé, taking one of the baskets from her.

"What are those?" Orihime asked as they both walked up he steps again and entered the dining room. She placed the bottles of wine she was holding on the tray where the rest of the drinks stood near the end of the table. "Whoa, they're gorgeous!" she exclaimed when she saw the stylized baskets up close.

"These are for the both of you," Rukia explained. "Our wedding invitations."

"We were supposed to bring them along, but they got a bit delayed," Renji explained with a grin, looking up when Ichigo appeared from the living room at the other end of the hall where he'd taken the call. "Yo, Ichigo I have an invitation for you too!"

"Man, Byakuya sure isn't sparing a dime on this wedding..." Ichigo replied, taking the basket with the crimson flowers over from his friend and staring at it from all sides. "Thanks."

"We'll be bringing more of these for Ishida, Sado and Urahara the coming days, but we really wanted you two to have them first," Rukia explained, watching Orihime open the silver scroll and show it to her husband with an excited smile.

"I can't wait for your wedding day now," Orihime whispered softly, giving her basket to Ichigo, who placed both on the dresser behind their chairs. "Thank you so much for these, we'll take good care of them" she said solemnly, sitting back down in her chair.

"You're very welcome," Rukia replied, placing her hand into Renji's as they sat back down too.

Orihime then turned to Ichigo who took his place at the table as well. "Who was it on the phone?"

"Mamoru's godfather and godmother who called to check in," he answered with a smile. "He's fallen asleep and they've assured us that we can come and pick him up whenever we want. Sado will be staying at Tatsuki's place until we do."

"You guys, if you want to go pick him up, that's fine," Rukia said apologetically.

Renji scratched the back of his head in unease, agreeing. "Yeah... You don't have to leave him there just to entertain us."

Both Ichigo and Orihime blinked at them before smirking and grinning. "Are you kidding?" Orihime whispered, waving their words away. "We earned some grown up time!"

"We wouldn't have wanted to pass on this dinner party for anything," Ichigo added with a shake of his head. "And either way, I'm sure that Tatsuki and Sado are enjoying the time alone."

"Eh?!"

"You're joking?"

Orihime nodded with an exagerated serious expression. "But we're not supposed to know."

"Eitherway, we're here to celebrate your engagement, Rukia, Renji," Ichigo said, grabbing the bottle of beer from the end of the table and filling his and Renji's glasses.

"The gossip on Sado and Tatsuki will follow after," Orihime promised with a wink, making everyone laugh before she lifted her glass and Ichigo followed suit. "And like my handsome husband just said, tonight is all about celebrating the union of our closest friends, their happiness and their joint fortune! So let's dig into this food because I'm starving."

They all laughed again and touched glasses, each of them looking forward to a future that seemed all the more bright.

* * *

><p><em>*Yuinou: Japanese Traditional Betrothal Ceremony in which the family of the groom presents the family of the bride with traditional gifts to show his good intentions for the marriage. The engagement is only official once the Yuinou is over.<em>

_** The story of Orihime's and Ichigo's wedding can be found in my bio under 'Taking that long road' Parts 1&2 (I would've inserted a hyperlink if ffnet allowed me to, sorry.)_

_**Thank you to all of you who favored and reviewed so far!**_

_**To be continued...**_

_**-BDP-**_


	3. Inner Voice

_3. Inner voice_

* * *

><p>Getting down the stairs proved itself to be a challenge now, especially since her feet periodically refused to carry her now enhanced weight.<p>

"Mom!"

She cringed when she heard something smash against her kitchen floor in the distance. "For the love of-" she whispered, waggling her way down the steps in the hall quickly. "Mamoru?" she called, throwing her loose ponytail over her shoulder as she hurried. "What the hell is going on?" she said when she found her youngest son standing on the countertop trying to reach for a plastic cup in a corner cupboard. "Sora! Get down this instant!" she cried, more out of fear than anger. "What are you doing? How did you even get up there?" Orihime asked, noticing that the stools around the kitchen island remained unmoved. She carefully made her way to him, making sure to avoid the shards of glass littering the floor.

"He can't find his favorite cup," Mamoru said with a sigh, coming from behind the kitchen island to follow close behind her. "I told him to get down from there."

"Mamoru, stay back!" she said softly, effectively keeping him from stepping on anything. "There's glass everywhere. Go get your father. He's in the basement."

"Mommy, where's my Karakurizer cup?" the orange haired child whined, turning around on the countertop with a pout, making his mother's heart skip a beat at how precariously close he was to the edge.

"Sora-chan, if you get down from there, I'll help you look," Orihime promised urgently, reaching out for him from a small distance, trying to avoid the thick shards of glass right underneath her son. "Come here," she whispered, grunting when she managed to lift him from his armpits and place him to safety. She then turned to him and grabbed him by a hand while she groaned in pain softly, one hand on her back. "Sora, do you realize what you just did?" she asked him gently, kneeling in front of him once they were in the dining room. "You could've seriously hurt yourself!"

"But mommy," the 7 year old whined, "I needed my cup!"

"Did you have to break three water glasses for your cup?" Orihime sternly asked, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Why didn't you come and ask me or your daddy to help you?"

Sora rolled his caramel eyes to the side remorsefully. "I couldn't find daddy and you were asleep..." he whispered softly. "I just wanted to make you some tea to make you feel better, mommy... You're always tired lately so I thought I would help."

Orihime sighed and pulled him close to her. "Sora, I appreciate that you were worried about me, but by doing what you just did, you made me really scared and worried for you. It hurts my heart when I worry about you... especially now, when you're this close to meet your little sister. What will she say when she gets here and she can't meet you?"

Sora's lower lip began to tremble with regret and he hugged her back tightly. "But mommy, Masaki won't be able to talk because she's still a baby."

Orihime laughed heartedly at that and tightened her hold on him for a moment before kissing him on his forehead. "You're right, love. But do you understand what I'm saying?"

The boy then let go of her, nodded and moved in to press the side of his face against her bulging belly. "I want Masaki to come out soon so she can stop making you feel so tired. When is she coming out, mommy?"

"If we're lucky, in a few days already," Orihime whispered, looking up when she saw Ichigo enter the room. She made a headmovement towards the kitchen and he went to assess the damage while she ran her hand through her son's hair affectionately. "Mamo-chan," she then called when she saw him appear from the small hallway leading to the basement behind the stairs. "Come take your brother and go start that new movie auntie Yuzu got you in your room."

The brown haired boy with the chocolate brown eyes walked up to her and took his brother by a hand. "But you said you'd come and watch it with us, mom," he wondered.

"I'll be up with snacks after dad and I finish cleaning up the kitchen," Orihime answered with an encouraging smile as they heard the sound of tumbling shards of glass coming from the kitchen. "Go on." She watched their faces light up with happiness before they raced each other to the stairs and up, waiting for them to be out of her sight to let out a long, tired sigh.

"You seem to be in a pickle down there," Ichigo smirked as he walked into the dining room a few moments later and saw her struggle to get back on her feet pathetically.

"I can't get up," she chuckled to herself when she gave up and just sat down on the floor. "I've never felt this bloated in my entire life!" she whispered with a sigh. "Every bit of my body is swollen and sore. Even my lips! If I get any bigger, I'll never snap back..."

Ichigo smiled and reached out for her. "You are the most gorgeous woman in the world to me," he whispered when she placed her hands in his. "An amazing mom and my sexy wife whether you're big or not. I'm a fan of your body either way."

"I feel as sexy as a beached whale right now and I'm nauseous all the time," she whined, pushing herself on her feet with an annoyed grunt. She then sent Shun'o and Ayame to the kitchen to fix the broken water glasses. "I'm ten years older than when we first did this... This is my body saying 'enough'."

"You're beautiful," he whispered against her forehead, caressing a kiss there as he embraced her.

She smiled up at him begrudgingly and wiggled her nose to fight the upcoming wave of dizziness, but let him kiss her lips softly. "I have no pants that fit my ever expanding butt anymore," she pouted, touching the twin flower pendant around her neck when she felt the two spirits return. "And I'm tired of wearing leggings with everything!"

He chuckled in the crook of her shoulder and kissed her there too. "You're still super hot."

"I am actually," Orihime commented, adjusting the fit of her dark blue tunic on her shoulders and letting out a puff of air. "All the time."

Ichigo bit back a grin, knowing that she was just goofing around now. "Are you done?" he asked, putting up a stern expression or at least trying to.

Orihime bit her lower lip with another amused giggle and ran her hands through his hair while staring at him lovingly. "Thank you for making me feel like all those things..."

"I'll never stop," he told her in a throaty voice, looking her deeply in the eyes, basking in her never-changing beauty, his entire future reflected in those pools of caramel. "I love all of the woman that you are, Hime... Every day a bit more."

She moved in to plant a kiss on his lips lovingly before her face scrunched together and she covered her nose in clear disgust, taking a step back to look at him, unable to keep her growing nausea at bay."What have you been doing down there?" she asked looking over his torn and frayed outfit, her stomach now avidly protesting against her husband's offensive body odor. "You reek!"

Ichigo spread his arms and looked himself over. "I've been working on touching up Sora's old crib and I got a little sweaty...? Since when do you not like the smell of my sweat?" He smelled his dirty t-shirt and shrugged. "It isn't even that bad!"

Orihime shook her head and gagged a little with her hand pressed against her mouth, reaching for him with her other hand. "Oh, I'm going to be sick...!" she whispered, taking the arm he was offering her to help her get to the bathroom in the hallway behind the stairs. "This is getting to be ridiculous..."

"Did you have anything to eat today, Hime?" he whispered as he waited for her to finish by the opened door of the bathroom.

"I haven't been feeling hungry at all today..." Orihime confessed, throwing her loose ponytail over her shoulder again as she straightened away from the toilet pot and reached for the toilet paper. "I'll try eating some of the left over miso soup you made tonight for dinner."

"Do you think that your lack of appetite could mean that it's almost time?" he asked, walking back inside the room and helping her onto her feet after she'd flushed and cleaned her mouth with a bit of water from the small sink.

"That's how it was with the boys, wasn't it?" she replied with a wince, quickly placing a hand on her lower back. "I don't know, a lot has been different from those pregnancies this time around."

"Do you want me to call Yuzu?" Ichigo asked her, walking her to their living room with a hand on her lower back gently massaging the sore muscle tissue there. "Your due date is in three days."

Orihime shook her head and sat herself down on one of their two sofas. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, I'm not going into labour yet, this is all still part of the miracle people call pregnancy," she said sarcastically, watching him arrange some pillows at one end of the sofa so she could rest against them.

Ichigo grinned and helped her move towards the end of the sofa, making sure she was comfortable. "There's no need to hide the fact that you want this to be over... This pregnancy was full of surprises," he whispered, taking off her ballerina flats for her. "Masaki being able to control your ShunShun Rikka from the womb being one of them."

"I'm pretty sure that we'll both be happy for me to have full control over my powers again," she agreed. "Waking up in the middle of the night while floating a few feet in the air and being unable to call back the shield is not very pleasant."

"I can't believe that she's already this powerful," Ichigo murmured, sitting next to her and caressing her stomach. "It's scary, isn't it?"

"Terrifying," Orihime whispered back, smiling nonetheless. "It'll be a completely new adventure."

He kissed her belly lovingly, staring at it longingly. "I can't wait."

"I hope Sora develops his powers soon, too," she mused, joining their hands on her belly. "He already feels inferior to Mamoru as it is."

"I actually talked to Sado about it the other day and he mused that Sora could be a Fullbringer instead of a pure Shinigami like his brother. He might even be part Quincy."

Orihime grinned. "Come to think of it, our children could be so many different supernatural beings at once, it's crazy."

"True," Ichigo agreed. "But Sado brought it up the other day during training because he thought he'd felt a flicker of Hollow-like Reiatsu coming from Sora last time he took the boys swimming. He'd brushed it off, thinking that he'd been imagining it, but he thought about it when I mentioned that Mamoru had already manifested Spiritual Awareness at age 7."

"A Fullbringer, huh? Somehow I feel like that would suit him..." she murmured, sighing and resting her head back. "He's always been one to be overly attached to his belongings... But if this is true, then it could be another few years before he truly comes into his powers, right?" Orihime asked, thinking about the scene she'd witnessed in the kitchen earlier.

He nodded and his attention was diverted to his hand underneath hers on top of her stomach where he'd felt the slightest of movements. "And when he does, he has enough people to help him develop them properly."

"Could you ask Sado to check again, if he can? I think that Sora might be closer to developing powers than we think."

"Did you see him do something?"

She shook her head. "It could be just my intuition, but I don't think he climbed onto the countertop. He didn't use any of the stools."

Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "You think he jumped?"

"What's that thing Fullbringers do in the air?" she asked, voice soft

"Bringer Light?" he asked, knitting his brows together skeptically. "That's a pretty advanced move, I don't think he's gotten that far. We would've noticed if he did, believe me."

"Oh," Orihime yawned, shrugging. "Then it must've been something else."

"Probably," He agreed, brushing a few of her bangs out of her face gently, eyes growing soft at the sight of her worn out expression. "If you feel like taking another nap, no one will judge you."

"I must be a very helpless and pathetic sight to behold if all the men in this house feel like they need to baby me. No pun intended," she said with a grin, reaching a hand for him which he grabbed. His lips landed on her palm and she sighed contentedly. "Before all of the kitchen drama Sora wanted to make me tea to make me feel better. Mamoru insisted on helping me get dressed this morning and you... Well, you're just being my dotting husband, I suppose."

Ichigo chuckled,"We all love you and we'd be completely and utterly lost without you, that's why."

She giggled happily and bit her lower lip in appreciation of his kind words, cupping his face in her hand. "I'm okay. Really," she whispered reassuringly.

He smiled at her wryly, the slight worry in his eyes not completely gone. He kissed her tenderly. "Even though not all of us fully understand what you're going through, those of us who do want you to know that it is greatly appreciated and deeply admired. I for one know what you've had to give up for this so I want to be as attentive as I can be to your needs."

Orihime sighed and gave him a grateful smile, "And here I felt like bitching some more..."

He laughed and removed her hand from his face gently, moving to stand. "Bitch as much as you want, you've earned it after 9 months."

She let him kiss her forehead with a comical scowl on her face and she grinned at him as he prepared to leave. "Hey, are you going upstairs?"

"My Hime says I smell, so I need to take a quick shower," Ichigo answered, making her giggle. "Do you need something?"

"Ask the boys if they want to come watch their movie here with me. I don't think I can climb those stairs again before bed," she said, straining to see him from over her enormous belly. "Let's all watch the movie together. Did you have more work downstairs?"

"Nothing I can't finish later tonight," he answered with a knowing grin. "I'll send the boys downstairs to watch the movie here."

She nodded in acknowledgement while caressing her belly lovingly. "Don't be long," she whispered, watching him climb the stairs.

"I know," he called back from the first floor, understanding all too well that he couldn't leave her alone with the boys for long stretches of time. Not in her weakened and tired state.

Orihime smiled to herself and continued to rub her hands over her stomach, focusing her thoughts on her unborn child. "You're becoming impatient too, aren't you?" she said, smiling at the small movements she felt inside. "We're ready for you; so it's your call my love."

A sense of quiet reassurance came over her then and she closed her eyes gratefully, nodding in understanding. "Then it shouldn't be long now. You'll love it here with your brothers, I promise." Orihime chuckled happily at the soft kick she got in response. "And your daddy has been waiting for you for the longest time. He's loved you from the moment we first felt you stir in there," she whispered, nodding and giggling at the excited arm movement Masaki made. "Yeah... So, there's nothing for you to be scared of; come share this world with us. There's so much for you to see, feel and love... We'll show you all of it, teach you all of it and protect you whenever you need to be. I can't wait to meet you, little one."

She lifted her gaze from her belly with a soft smile when she heard her sons coming down the stairs in a rambunctious manner. "Take the big pillows from the other sofa and come sit close to me on the floor," she told them warmly, grinning when Sora did as told and Mamoru walked over to their TV set and inserted the movie disc into the player. He walked back with the remote and handed it to her.

"Should we wait for dad?" he asked her as he grabbed the other large pillow from the second sofa and dropped it in front of the one his mother was lying on. "He said he wouldn't be long."

"No... I want to continue watching the movie!" Sora whined, pouting up at her.

"Don't you want dad to know what the movie is about?" Mamoru asked his brother, sitting spread eagled on his pillow now. "Mom won't know what's going on either if we don't start it over."

"Oh," the youngest boy whispered in realization before shrugging, "But we can always just tell them what happened?"

Mamoru grunted and rolled his eyes impatiently. "Do you like it when people talk during a movie?"

"No..." Sora said quietly and then sighed. "Okay, okay, if there's really no other way..."

Mamoru shook his head amusedly and looked at his mother, who returned his grin and passed an affectionate hand through her eldest son's hair. She soon gasped at the rather hard kidney shot she felt inside her belly. "Oh!"

Mamoru was by her side in an instant, holding her hand. "Mom?"

"Stop hurting mommy, Masaki!" Sora said, his tone reprimanding.

Orihime smiled reassuringly at the both of them and shook her head. "I'm okay, boys... Your little sister gets excited when she feels the both of you near. She's very curious about you guys," she said, lifting Mamoru's hand that she was holding onto her stomach. "Say hi to your big brother Mamoru, Masaki."

The eleven year old's chocolate eyes lit up when he felt his sister's greeting and he smiled excitedly, lowering his lips near his mother's belly so he could whisper to her. "Hi, Masaki. I can't wait for you to come out of there so I can show you some cool tricks!"

Orihime laughed in endearment. "Keep your karate tricks for when she's a little older, okay?"

"I'm not a complete idiot, mom," he replied with a smile before getting pushed aside by his younger brother. "Sora!"

"I want to feel!" he quipped, pressing the side of his face against her belly a tad too hard, making Orihime gasp for breath.

"Be careful, you'll hurt the both of them!" Mamoru cried.

"It's alright, Sora," Orihime gently said, slowly bringing an encouraging hand on his head against her. "Keep quiet and try to listen to her."

A few moments passed in which nothing happened. "Hello...? Masaki? You still in there?" Sora called, quietly rubbing his mother's belly. "Mommy, why is she not doing anything for me?" he asked her, lifting his head sadly.

"Because you scared her," Mamoru said scornfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't say that, Mamo-chan," she told him, taking both Sora's hands in hers to direct them over the surface of her stomach when she saw the crestfallen expression of her youngest. "Just try again, Sora-chan. Tell her something nice."

Sora pressed his lips together hesitantly and lowered himself against her again. "I know karate tricks too, you know? And if you want, I'll teach you how to touch the tip of your nose with the tip of your tongue! Oh, and dad taught me how to shave the other day! I'll teach you that too, okay Masaki?"

Orihime laughed heartedly at that, shaking her head.

"But Masaki, please come out soon! There's no school because of summer, so we can spend whole days together if you want," the little boy continued. "I'm growing tired of waiting, I want to show you how to eat dumplings and ride all the rides at the fair and I want to tell everyone I'm a big brother too now!"

Orihime caressed the top of his head lovingly. "What is a big brother's duty to his younger brothers and sisters?" she asked him quietly.

"To protect them, no matter what!" Sora answered, eyes glittering with newfound pride. "I want to be a better big brother to Masaki-chan than Mamo-chan is to me!"

"Hey!" Mamoru protested, visibly hurt. "Mom!"

Sora bumped his shoulder against his brother's chest and blushed. "Just kidding. I want to be just as good as Mamo-chan." He then kissed his mother's belly and whispered so softly only Orihime could hear. "I want to be better than Mamo-chan, because Mamo-chan is super strong. I want to be super super strong so I can protect you and Mamo-chan some day."

Tears welled up in her eyes at the sound of those heartfelt and innocent words and she took him in her arms as tightly as she could, kissing him repeatedly on his cheek. "You'll be a great big brother, Sora-chan."

Sora's cheeks reddened a bit more and he smiled at her belly when he left her embrace. "She still didn't kick though..."

"Place your hand here," Orihime whispered, guiding his hand to the lower left side of her belly. "Do you feel her now?"

Sora's eyes went wide and he nodded avidly. "She's pushing back against my hand!" he said happily. "Hi, Masaki!"

Orihime chuckled at the cute exchange before her eyes fell on Ichigo descending the stairs in clean black track pants and a grey t-shirt.

"Masaki is one lucky little sister," she commented when he found her with the boys' hands all over her stomach. "She gets to play hide and seek with her brothers from the womb."

Ichigo grinned before calling for his sons to get their attention away from their visibly tired mother. "Help me get the snacks for the movie."

Orihime closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath, still rubbing her belly soothingly. The dull, pulsing pain that started when her husband left to take a shower was getting impossible to breathe away now. "Anata*?" she then whispered to him when her sons had already disappeared into the other end of the hall. He came back to her with a questioning expression on his face, but the moment he laid eyes on her again, he knew.

He could feel the increase in her spiritual pressure.

Ichigo reached for his cellphone in the backpocket of his track pants as he quickly walked to the coat closet by the entrance door and retrieved his wife's pre-made overnight bag. "Dad? Yeah, she's going into labour," he said, grinning nervously into the device wedged between his shoulder and cheek. He grabbed his jacket and her cardigan. "Just now. We're on our way to Karakura Memorial, meet us there? Ok. We'll call Yuzu and Ishida from the car." He hung up and hurried back to Orihime to help her stand. "Boys?" he called, helping Orihime into the long, light grey cardigan while she put her ballerina flats back on.

"Masaki is coming isn't she?" Mamoru said excitedly, coming running from the kitchen with his brother in tow.

"You know what to do, Mamoru," Ichigo commanded with a nod, putting on his jacket. "Take care of your brother."

Mamoru nodded back in determination. "Sora, go put on your shoes," he told his brother, following him up the stairs a moment later.

"You need to put on yours, too," Orihime said softly, smiling amusedly as she stared at his big naked feet. "You can't become the father of our daughter on bare feet."

He chuckled and kissed her softly, rushing to the closet again to put on the loafers he kept in there. "Dad will come by later tonight to pick up some clothes for the boys so they can spend the next few days with him. If this is anything like when you had Sora, he'll make sure they don't stay up too late."

Orihime looked down at her stomach and shook her head. "This one will be quick, I can feel it. And you have things in complete control, so I'm not worried."

Ichigo walked up to her again and kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered to her.

"I love you too," she whispered back, looking into his chocolate eyes and seeing her future reflected in them. A grin formed on her lips when she saw two small faces grinning at them from the first floor landing.

Ichigo had noticed them too. "Well, can we get going or what?" he said after having cleared his throat. He tried to suppress his own smile when both boys descended the stairs, laughing joyfully while they made their way towards the kitchen and the garage door in its back.

Orihime watched him pick up her overnight bag from the floor and grabbed his hand when he reached back for her, holding the underside of her belly with her other, a welcoming smile forming on her lips.

_"Almost home."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Anata: literally means 'you', but in a marital context signifies something along the lines of 'my love or my darling'. Expressed only by a wife to her husband.<strong>_

_Thank you everyone who took the time to leave a kind word and to all of you reading and liking this. You help keep my inspiration flowing._

_Until next time..._

_**-BDP-**_


	4. Boiling Point

_4. Boiling Point_

* * *

><p>The streetlights flickered on one by one, preparing the city for the day's transition into night.<p>

He pulled up by the coffee shop just in time to see her bid goodnight to her colleagues, a small pink box held in her hands. He stepped out and quickly walked around the delivery van to open it up for her. "Happy birthday, Orihime."

Orihime grinned up at him gratefully, kissing him lovingly on his cheek when he pulled her to him. "Hi!"

"Hey," he greeted back lovingly with a smile, stepping aside to let her climb into the passenger's seat. "Ready for your birthday party?"

"Yeah!" she quipped excitedly, placing the box in her lap as he shut the door.

"Do you still need to pass by your place?" he asked after he'd taken his seat behind the wheel.

She put on her seatbelt and made an affirmative head movement. "Yeah, if you wouldn't mind? I forgot my outfit at home. I'm sorry," she said, looking over her jeans and t-shirt attire.

He nodded in acknowledgment and started the car, driving down the street a moment later.

"How was work today?" Orihime asked him conversationally, settling comfortably in her seat as she looked at the passing lights outside.

Ichigo made an annoyed face. "Remind me to never get a pet," he said, checking for oncoming traffic before taking the street on his left.

Orihime giggled. "Oh no, another pet assignment?" she said, wanting to sound soothing but unable to keep the mocking tone in her voice away.

"If she has me scooping up cat, dog, gerbil, ferret or bird poo one more time, I'm quitting! For good this time!"

She was laughing out loud now. "You always say that," she commented with a shake of her head. "You just won't admit to yourself that you like the fact that you're helping people this way too."

Ichigo was still scowling, his expression amusing her to no end. "Yeah, well maybe..."

"Right," she said quietly with a grin, looking down into her lap when a blush spread on her face at the thought of how kind her boyfriend truly was, despite all of his complaining, which was cute and entertaining in its own way too.

They'd been dating for 7 months now and there were still times when she thought she was lost in one of her high school fantasies about him, finding it hard to believe that in the end he was the one who made the decisive move and that at the time she'd decided to move on from being infatuated with him.

He was everything she'd hoped he would be and he made her happy in ways she never could've imagined, the clumsy and blunt ways he showed his affection for her only made her love and appreciate him more, so much that her feelings for him had reached a tipping point where something needed to happen to relieve the ever accumulating tension she felt inside.

She knew him to be considerate of everyone and everything, but rather oblivious when it came to her growing sexual desire for him. And it wasn't his fault; Orihime had no idea how to handle the matter effectively either and she'd never once spoken to him about it because she knew how much of a gentleman Ichigo was. Also, she feared that maybe it was still too soon for them to be talking about sex in their relationship.

It became harder and harder to deny how much she wanted and needed it though. She'd grown passed her high-school fantasies of him, feeling more than ready to take their relationship to the next level.

"Do you feel like coming up, Ichigo-kun?" she whispered quietly once they'd arrived in front of her apartment. "Or do you need to go return Ikumi-san's van first?"

Ichigo parked the car and sat back to look at her. "No, I get to have her van until tomorrow because I have deliveries to make in the morning."

"Oh, okay," Orihime replied, smiling to herself. "Do you want to come up?"

Ichigo thought about it for a moment before nodding, taking a small breath when she opened her door and got out, quickly following suit.

"I won't be long," she said as she now turned her key in the door slot and stepped inside. She placed the pink cake box on her kitchen counter as she passed it. "At what time is the gang meeting us?"

Ichigo stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind him, taking off his shoes as she sprinted into her bedroom at the other side of the hall he was standing in. "At nine," he replied, taking a right into her small living room and seating himself on the floor at her table which was littered with text books and notes. "Orihime?"

"Yeah?" she answered from her room.

He picked up the large, dark blue book on Psychology from the table, briefly impressed by its rather important weight. "How do you feel you did on that test you told me you about? That was today, wasn't it?"

Orihime grinned to herself quietly, appreciating the fact that he'd actually remembered her telling him about it. She took off her jeans and stepped out of them quickly. "I think I did well, I could answer all of the questions with relative ease. The results should be in by the next class."

Ichigo nodded to himself in understanding and put the book back on the table, smiling proudly at how smart and ambitious his girlfriend was. He had chosen not to pursue an academic degree himself, having seen little point in doing so. He had his hands full with his job and his Shinigami duties, adding college to that list would only stretch him too thin. If he wanted to have a semblance of a normal life, he couldn't add anything else that would make his life even more hectic and insane than it already was.

He sighed and his eyes fell on a picture of Orihime, Rukia and Tatsuki in bikinis, recognising the setting immediately. A smirk grew on his lips and he stood to walk to the dresser by her tv, picking up the frame. It'd been taken last summer at the beach with all of their closest friends to celebrate his 19th birthday. He remembered it being so hot on that day that most of the beach activities Orihime and Rukia had planned for them couldn't be done. They ended up having a barbecue and only the water related activities.

And as he stared at her he recalled how amazing she'd looked in her blue and white bathing suit, outshining everyone else with her beauty and kind smile. There were still times when he had a hard time believing that a girl like Orihime actually liked him, having always thought that his life as a Substitute Shinigami only caused her worry and pain and that a life with him was not something she could ever want to deal with for the rest of her life, not when she didn't have to.

But she did want to. She wanted to be with him, to share not only his battles, but his daily life. She'd deemed him worthy of her affections and although he'd never taken the time to inspect her feelings about him when they were still in high school, the news of her being in a relationship with a sophomore student when she started college last year had hurt and angered him for a then inexplicable reason. He'd always fought those who wanted to claim her by violence, be they malevolent souls or living maniacs, telling himself and others that Orihime belonged to none other than herself. And that's something he felt obliged to do as her friend and he felt good about being able to be there for her. That is, until she willingly chose to become someone else's. Someone other than him.

The day he realized that he wanted for Orihime to be willingly his, was the day he realized and understood most of her past actions towards him and that he was an absolute idiot for not having seen it before. Because by the time he'd realized it, someone else had taken his place.

"Ichigo-kun?"

"Yeah," he called back, placing the framed picture back down.

"Can you come help me, please?"

He rounded the corner that led him to the short hallway and entered her room on his right only to quickly walk back out again with a furious blush on his face. His forehead now rested on the opposing wall. "Put some clothes on first," he calmly said, shoulders shaking as he tried really hard to put the image he just saw of her out of his mind. "Please."

Orihime blinked up at him innocently from her sitting position on the floor in front of her bed. "Ichigo-kun?" she questioned, looking down at her self. She was clad in nothing but a white tank top, a sky blue bra and matching panties. "Come on, you've seen me wearing less," she chuckled, moving to stand.

"Those instances were different, there were people around..." Ichigo murmured, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly, still facing the opposing wall. "It's just us here now."

She smiled warmly at that. "Do you feel uncomfortable because your 'cool guy' facade doesn't work in situations like this?" she questioned, walking over to her desk to grab her folding chair. She pushed the piece of furniture against her open closet and prepared to stand on it.

Ichigo made a face at her accurate comment but still refused to turn around. "Even so, as your boyfriend there are some things that are expected of me. Certain ways of conduct."

"Oh really?" Orihime whispered, balancing herself on the wobbly chair. "Like what?"

"Like making sure you're cared for," he said with a stoic nod.

"I was doing fine before you and I started dating," Orihime retorted indifferently, reaching for the top shelf of her closet to grab a shoebox. "I think I can take care of myself pretty well."

Ichigo mentally sweatdropped and turned to glare at her before regretting doing so. "T-that your modesty remains protected!" he blurted out in a panicking tone, trying his hardest to keep from looking at her underwear clad, bouncy buttocks as she continued to reach for the top shelf.

Orihime sighed in annoyance and stopped to look at him. "Right, is that why you're letting me jump up and down this rickety chair in my underwear when I clearly asked you for your help?"

Ichigo scowled and grunted. "Can you please put some clothes on first?"

She got down the chair and crossed her arms on her chest, giving him a testing look. "Why?"

"Because you're making me uncomfortable looking like that," was his answer.

"So you don't find me attractive," she reasoned, plopping down on her bed with a cute pout.

"Are you kidding?" Ichigo replied with a frustrated grunt. "You're the hottest girl in town and I just don't want to do anything that would scare you."

Orihime smiled silently to herself now that she knew they were approaching the heart of the matter. "Anything like what? Like french-kissing?" she asked, playing dumb on purpose.

He chuckled at that and shook his head, placing his hands on his hips as he searched for words. "No... Uh. Not french-kissing, which by the way we've already done."

"We have?" Orihime wondered, continuing with her act. "When?"

"That time when we-" Ichigo began before realizing that she was playing with him. He turned around to face her, finding her smirking knowingly. "Don't do that."

"Look," she started, knowing that this wasn't the way to get what she truly wanted. She reached for her jeans on the floor. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed the issue."

Ichigo watched her put on her jeans again with a pensive expression on his face and just as she was about to climb back onto the old chair he walked up to her and effortlessly grabbed the shoebox. "Why do you keep that so high up there anyway?"

"So I only want them when it's a special occasion," she replied, taking the box from him with an excited smile and opening it. Inside lay a pair of gorgeous glittery black, delicate high-heeled strappy sandals. "Aren't they pretty?"

Ichigo only stared at them for a moment, having no particular opinion on the footwear. "Will you be able to walk on them all night?"

"I'll be fine," she answered coldly, already feeling irritated at the lack of development their previous discussion brought and now at the way he could sometimes belittle her self-confidence with a comment like his last one. She knew he didn't mean it that way and that he only cared for her well-being, but right now she couldn't care less. "You can go now. Wouldn't want you to see anything that would make you scare me."

"You're upset," he noted quietly.

Orihime rolled her eyes at him pointedly before shaking her head and retrieving a plum skater dress from her closet and throwing it on her bed along with the shoebox. "I'm about to take off my pants again, I'm sure you don't want to see this."

"Orihime... I..."

She took a step away from him, her fingers placed threateningly on the top button of her jeans. "I'm going to change underwear too, so leave while you can! Please!"

Ichigo approached her quickly and grabbed her face in his hands, kissing her languidly on her lips, effectively shutting her up. "Stop it. I know you're frustrated with me sexually."

She opened her eyes, blushed and stared at a point next to his head, refusing to look at him. "If you do, why didn't you say anything?"

"Because the places my mind goes at night when I'm alone in my bed and I'm missing you..." he whispered throatily, letting his words hang in the air to catch her attention. His eyes were fixed on her slightly parted, luscious lips and he sighed hopelessly. "I want you so badly that I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself."

"Sex shouldn't be about control..." she whispered back shakily, heart beating madly in her chest as her arousal for him grew stronger.

Ichigo smiled at her naïve words, gazing at her reddening cheeks. "I guess that to me it is, especially with you. This'll be your first time... Once we're past that point, there will be no going back and I want the both of us to be absolutely sure that we want this."

Orihime let out a shivering breath and closed her eyes, her hormones threatening to go berserk now. Him being this considerate all the fricking time turned her on to no end. She lifted herself on her toes and kissed him softly. "I want you, Ichigo-kun. So badly. I have been wanting you for years."

Ichigo licked his lower lip and closed his eyes too, taking a quivering breath to keep control of the urges that were threatening to take him over. "Orihime," he groaned softly, leaning back a bit in hesitation when she moved in to kiss him again. "Fuck..."

"I trust you," she breathed pleadingly, reaching for the hem of her tank top and pulling it over her head. She grabbed him by his black shirt once the top hit the floor, needing him closer, blindly searching for his lips again. "Do you think you're the only one fantasizing about us going all the way...? Do you think I don't touch myself when my mind strays to you and what I want you to do to me...?"

"Crap..." he chuckled in defeat when his resolve smashed to bits somewhere next to her discarded top on the floor. The taste of her lips as she kissed him next was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted and he gave in to her, kissing her back wantonly, growling possessively when she gasped and exposed the side of her neck for him to plant his lips on. "Are you sure, Orihime?" he asked seriously, pulling her hair back and out of her face so he could inspect her features for even the slightest sign of hesitation.

"I want you to be my first," Orihime murmured against his lips, biting her lower lip when she reached for the buttons of her jeans and began to pop them open slowly. She opened her eyes then and reached for his head so she could make him look at her. "And I consider myself lucky that it'll be you," she confessed, taking off her pants and stepping out of them. "So," she said with a small smile, taking a step away from him and swaying quietly from side to side seductively. "If I were to say that your body is what I want for my birthday, what would you say?"

Ichigo rose a surprised eyebrow at that, having discovered a sultry side to his girlfriend that wasn't entirely unwelcome. He chuckled while his eyes went over her tight and voluptuous form. "I would say that we're going to be late for your party," he murmured, closing the distance between them, letting his fingers go through the strands of her honey brown hair that fell over one of her shoulders.

She giggled and took a breath when the hand playing with her hair only lightly grazed the top of her exposed breast. Her eyes rolled up to his wantonly and the desire she read in them nearly sent her over the edge of sanity. "I need you... Please..."

He smiled at her gently and coaxed her down onto the bed. As she cleared the surface of her duvet of the clothes and the box she'd thrown on it, he started to undress, pulling his black shirt out of his pants and taking it off, smirking when her breathing visibly quickened at the sight of his sculpted torso. Her erected nipples now peeked through the fabric of her bra. "Lay down."

Orihime did as told and took a steadying breath, rolling her head to the side to watch him take off his jeans and socks but leaving on his dark blue shorts. He grinned at her reassuringly when he climbed onto the bed, coming up to her from in between her legs, looking her over lovingly. "Are you still okay with this?"

She nodded quickly, the anticipation of what was about to happen eclipsing the nervous jitters in her stomach.

"Lift your head a bit," Ichigo said, having reached for a pillow from the top of the bed.

Orihime gathered her hair to one side and let him slide the pillow underneath her head, smiling up at him when his face was back on her eye-level.

He looked into her eyes for a few moments and then kissed her lips softly. "If you don't like what I'm about to do to you, just tell me and I'll stop, okay?" he whispered, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

She breathed in deeply and nodded once, eyes going wide in surprised realisation when he made his way down her body again, giggling when his tongue dipped into her belly button playfully.

"Lift your legs up together," he then instructed, watching her do as told gracefully and letting his hands run up the back of her smooth thighs. "Draw your knees to your chest now. Yeah, like that..."

His warm hands grabbed for the hem of her underwear on her hips and pulled, taking the garment with them, over the curve of her ass and up her thighs as she stretched her legs again and up her calves, slowly, teasingly and sensually until finally her feet were the last body part to receive a caress of his passing fingers and her panties lay on the floor next to the bed.

Her eyes were following each of his movements when she bent her legs and rested her feet on the bed again, both her hands covering the apex of her thighs casually, tauntingly, invitingly. He watched her closely as he placed his hands on a knee each and slowly pushed them apart, tongue passing over his lips at the sight of her heaving chest and quivering breasts. Another reassuring smile formed on his mouth and he silently rolled his eyes downwards to her treasure, lowering himself lazily until he was face to face with the hands covering her womanhood. His eyes went up to look at her amusedly, receiving a nervous smile in response. He waited patiently for her to remove them, first her right one and then her left.

"Beautiful," she heard him whisper, the small puffs of air against her heated folds making her whimper softly as she shivered from the ever building anticipation.

"Tell me when you need for me to stop," Ichigo murmured, darting the tip of his tongue against one of her outer folds tentatively, humming in approval before he pressed his lips against her intimate ones, lapping up her juices that had accumulated there.

Her body's reaction was immediate; her hips shot up and he went with her, refusing to let her go, his eyes focused on her pleasure struck face, taking in all of her reactions, breathy moans and gasps and committing them to memory. Balancing himself on his elbows now, he took a moment to nuzzle the inside of her right thigh and grinned at her debauched face. "I could keep kissing you down there all day, Orihime. Your taste, your scent, the sounds you make... You're fucking delicious."

Just him telling her that made another shot of arousal speed down her spine. "Don't stop..." she whispered shyly, watching him through her heavily lidded eyes, a healthy blush on her cheeks.

"I'm far from done," he murmured, bringing two fingers to his mouth to wet them. His brown gaze remained on hers as he slowly slid one digit inside her wet warmth, his own nether regions twitching in response to the velvety feel of her untouched walls. "You're so tight," he whispered, watching her hands fisting in the covers on either side of her, her expression now one of anxious expectation. "Hime, look at me..."

She opened her eyes and took another steadying breath, reflecting his caring smile with one of her own. "I'm still a little nervous."

Ichigo shook his head comfortingly, giving the thigh he was holding a slight squeeze. "I know..." he replied, having thought of an idea to help her relax as he removed his finger from her. "Can you... Can you maybe show me how you do it?"

Her face exploded with red at that and she blinked, lifting her head to look at him in between her legs. "You want me to...?"

He flashed her an encouraging grin and moved his head once affirmatively. "Help me learn how you like it, Hime..."

She didn't know if it was his sexy smile or his throaty voice and sultry tone that swayed her into lifting her right hand to rest on her stomach first and then to slide it towards her swollen bud hesitantly, but she knew that she wanted for him to see how much she wanted for them to do this and how much she desired him. And so she closed her eyes and arched her neck when the caress of her own fingers transported her into one of her imagined scenarios of him, the sound of his wordless approval only heightening her self-inflicted pleasure.

A lopsided smile grew on his features as he watched her, the small motions of her hips hypnotizing him into craving another taste of her, his arms now locking themselves around her thighs as his fingers kept her open and accessible, his tongue eagerly lapping up the fragrant moisture that continued to seep out of her delicate rose.

"Ichigo...kun...!" she breathed, her left hand fingers now threading through his orange strands, pulling him closer, needing for him to lick, nip and suckle on her harder. "Yes... Please, please..."

Glancing upwards once more at the sound of her rapid gasps and ascending voice, he quickly wet his right hand index and middle finger and pushed them inside of her, moving up to give her clit some attention when the digits encountered minimal resistance. "That's it, Hime..." he murmured, moving in again when she removed her fingers from her moist bud so he could take it into his mouth eagerly.

Her loud moan echoed through her small apartment at the overload of stimuli he procured her, her body now completely at his mercy and her mouth reduced to producing nothing but whimpered praises and shaky sobs of his name as he showed no sign of relenting. His tongue, lips and fingers were too much on her and she couldn't escape it, this was going to be it, the biggest one she'd ever had to date.

Even as she shook and trembled around and against him he didn't stop, diligently slurping up all she had to give, humming his satisfaction against her rock hard clit, flickering the tip of his tongue against it until she was practically nothing but a breathy, sobbing mess, letting her crest yet another peak with nothing but a well directed thrust of his fingers. "Fuck yes..." he groaned when she whimpered his name over and over.

She couldn't breathe, her eyes couldn't seem to focus and she had no voice left to cry out with when even the removal of his fingers from within her sent another shockwave of arousal through her. Her senses barely registered him reaching for his pants to retrieve a condom before putting it on his erection. She then felt him moving up her body and pulling the straps of the bra she was still wearing down her shoulders so he could more easily push the soft blue cotton fabric from both her breasts. A weak groan was all she could muster when one of her nipples got engulfed in the assault of his lips and teeth while his right hand lustfully played with the other, her still shaky legs closing around his hips and her body arching up to him.

Her small hands came to cup his face when he released her breasts and their eyes locked, his need for her now rampant, the kiss that followed driven by nothing but his insatiable thirst for her.

She could feel his hard-on press against her testingly and she let her hips respond wantonly, gasping into the kiss at the immense warmth he seemed to be rubbing against her drenched womanhood. She was clinging onto his shoulders when he used one of his hands to line himself up, searching for his eyes when his tip carefully, questioningly pressed against her, finding all the reassurance she needed in his warm pools of chocolate when he looked up from where their bodies were about to join.

One nod and a trusting smile was his signal and he burried his nose in the side of her neck before pushing inside of her sharply and swiftly, nearly blinded by the explosion of warmth that greeted him once he was in, but forcing himself to check on her, having heard her soft cry of pain.

She tried to keep the shaking of her body at a minimum, not wanting for him to take it as a sign that he should stop. The pain was not what she had expected and although she'd promised herself that she wouldn't, she hadn't been able to keep her scream from escaping.

And now he was looking at her with a mixture of worry and guilt and she couldn't bear it, managing a trembling smile. He kissed her comfortingly and she kissed him back, whimpering when the pain began to subside enough for her to be able to feel him throb within her, shifting the balance of discomfort and arousal back into the latter part. She broke the kiss and opened her eyes, finding her hands pressed against his chest as he had taken her in a protective embrace. She smiled warmly at that, feeling like she was falling in love with him all over again. Her eyes lifted up to his patiently awaiting ones and she spread her legs wider tentatively, making him slide inside a little deeper and ignoring the sting it caused. She then closed her legs around his waist in wordless encouragement, mouth falling open in a soundless gasp when he took her cue and slowly rolled his hips against hers.

Her head fell back against the pillow after that first stroke and he bit his lip at how irresistible she looked in that one moment, grinding his hips against hers one more time and smiling contently at the way she threw her head to the side with a gasp, her swollen lips hanging open still, eyes tightly shut.

A few more careful thrusts had her moaning again, indicating that their sexing was starting to feel good to her now, so he hooked his right arm underneath her left knee and lifted it a little higher, spreading her open wider, thrusting just a tad bit harder, testing for the both of them what could make their first time better. He breathed something between a curse and a praise when she moaned hoarsely and tightened around him, almost losing his balance at the electric current that coursed through the both of them. Her small hands rested on his waist just above his buttocks now and he could feel them urging him to go deeper again, her short nails digging into his skin making his brain swim in an intoxicating draught created by her blossoming erotic sagacity. He wanted, required, almost felt the need to selfishly demand all of her, from her silky strands of honey brown to her perfectly full breasts and delicate lower folds, her milky white and sensually soft skin, her big emotive caramel eyes, her timid voice... He needed all of it to be his. Willingly his.

He couldn't think of anything else he wanted to do other than make love to this woman until they both couldn't form another thought, being with her was all he wished for. And if he got a chance, he wanted for them to live their lives together without ever having to go a day without her by his side. They'd gotten passed the point of no return, and he would never give her up. He was hers.

"I'm in love with you."

Orihime's eyes flew open at the words whispered in the side of her neck and she shifted her head to meet his eyes, her hands cupping his face as he moved to brace himself on his arms. She couldn't but stare at him for the longest time, his movements inside of her now stilled as well as the world around them. Or so it seemed.

"You're mine, Orihime," he told her, following one of the tears that rolled to the side of her perplexed face with his eyes. "I love you," he whispered and she let out a breath before chuckling happily, her hands pulling him down on her again for another kiss.

And although this was the first time he'd confessed his feelings for her and that this night with him was the apotheosis of nearly 4 years of longing, she'd never felt the need for him to tell her, having always known that his actions spoke louder than his words. Therefore, she'd known for a few weeks already how he truly felt about her.

Just like he knew how she felt about him.

"Make love to me, Ichigo-kun," she whispered against his lips, sighing contentedly and letting her eyes roll into the back of her head when he obliged and resumed his gentle thrusts.

"You're beautiful, Hime," he murmured, raising himself on his hands now so he could have a full frontal look of her body while he quickened his movements, mesmerized by her bouncing breasts, the way her hair now stuck to her neck and collarbone, not getting enough of her.

It was everything she'd imagined it would be; sensual, unbearably erotic and passionate. He'd given her the greatest gift any girl in love could want; the safety of knowing that not only her feelings were reciprocated, but that her sexual needs for him matched his for her and that their desire and love for each other only grew more adamant as they discovered each other physically, turning her into a woman deserving of his touch and care and one confident about her own developing sexuality.

Their hearts were now at ease, any lingering doubt about their relationship now gone the closer they reached climax, the both of them reveling in the thought of being each other's, having found that secluded part of the world only they had access to.

Even when she came undone again they kept going, fuelled by a strong sense of belonging, wanting the night to never end as they continued to explore and love each other.

Their friends would have to excuse them for not inviting them to this private birthday party. And seen as how they still had her cake, they would indulge in it and eat it by themselves, too.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thank you everyone for the ongoing support!<strong>_

_**On to the next one...**_

_**-BDP-**_


	5. Departure-Disconnect

_5. Departure/ Disconnect (1/2)_

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><p>"Talk to me, son."<p>

Ichigo was staring at his untouched cup of coffee on the table, his folded hands pressed against his mouth as no words came to him, his mind numb and his soul dead-tired.

Isshin sat back in his chair across from him, lowering his head mournfully.

"She started lactating yesterday..."

The Kurosaki patriarch closed his eyes and folded his arms against his chest sadly. "Another one's of nature's cruel jokes it would seem..."

Ichigo remained quiet, incapable of mustering a reaction to his father's words.

"I can prescribe medication for it so she doesn't need to suffer through that, too," Isshin offered, looking at his son desolatedly.

"Do you think..." Ichigo started, swallowing his tears. "Could it be... That because of me... Our baby..."

Isshin reached for his son's left wrist that now lay on the table and shook his head pleadingly. "No, Ichigo." He knew what Ichigo meant; he was thinking that because the way he lived his life he had somehow caused for their unborn child to pay the price.

"Our little girl..." Ichigo whispered, his lower lip trembling as he furiously blinked the swelling tears away. "This is just too cruel...!"

"It wasn't your fault," the older man said consolingly, squeezing the wrist he was still holding. "It... It just... Wasn't meant to be..."

The lone tear that escaped rounded his grimacing lips as he gritted his teeth, his eyes going hidden behind his bangs. "Knowing that doesn't make it hurt less..." he whispered, shakily placing his other hand on top of his father's on his wrist.

"I'm here for you, son," Isshin whispered with sympathising eyes, letting him express his grief quietly while the house around them darkened as the weather outside prepared for the first snowfall of that year.

It'd barely been 7 months since their wedding last June and they'd been so very happy since then, preparing for their baby as soon as they received confirmation from Isshin and Vice Captain Kotetsu that she'd been 6 weeks pregnant when they exchanged vows. They moved out of the small apartment he and Orihime had shared for 2 years and became owners of a 4 bedroom house with the intention of filling it with the laughter of their children one day.

Everything about it felt cold and alien now, the promise of joy and love eclipsed by a crippling tragedy. Even now that the doorbell rang and he saw Yuzu come out of the kitchen to open the door to Uryuu, Sado and Tatsuki, he still felt very much alone and isolated, feeling a growing sense of shame because of what happened.

What good were all of his powers when he couldn't even protect his own daughter and keep his wife from drowning in her anguish?

What did it all mean? Would they ever be able to surmount this torment, this pain so dark and all consuming?

Elsewhere on the first floor of the house, she took a breath and looked at her companion mournfully. He glanced her way and let out a regretful sigh, shaking his head and closing his eyes silently. She needed a moment to center her emotions and thoughts, receiving all of the reassurance she needed when he took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. She then knocked and pushed the door of the nursery open, finding her sister in law sitting on the padded windowsill as she stared outside passively. The mascara that she had put on for the upcoming funeral was now staining her pale cheeks, her eyes red from crying, her body thin and underfed from the loss.

Karin placed the bowl with soup on a nearby dresser and closed the door behind them before taking off her winter coat and hanging it on its back. She then smiled sadly when Orihime's eyes fell on them, their presence only now made noticed by her brother's wife.

"Karin... Toushiro..." Orihime whispered, sitting up with little difficulty as she wiped away her tears. "You came all this way..."

Karin rushed to her when she broke down in tears and took her in her arms. "I'm so terribly sorry, Orihime... Oh God..."

"You were supposed to come back to meet her..." Orihime whimpered over her shoulder, hugging her back tightly. "You weren't supposed to come back for this... Not for this..."

Karin closed her eyes and gritted back her own tears, kissing the side of Orihime's head comfortingly. "We couldn't stay away at a time like this... No matter what the Academy's regulations say..."

Toushiro took place by the dresser close to the door and leant against it with his back, crossing his legs and his arms. "All of Soul Society feels with your loss, Orihime."

Her lower lip began to tremble as she let go of Karin and nodded, whimpering her thanks as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "I feel like I'm in a waking nightmare..." she said, taking the tissue Karin offered her.

The black haired girl moved to sit herself next to her now. "Do they know what went wrong?" she carefully asked, sliding her hand into hers on her lap.

"There was... A knot in her umbilical cord," Orihime answered quietly, staring unseeingly at the fully filled nursery cupboard in the corner, ignoring the pained expressions of her visitors. "She was stillborn."

"Oh Orihime..." Karin whispered, averting her gaze.

"I should've been able to bring her back," the older woman whispered shakily, still staring at the cupboard, her tears flowing again as her hand holding the tissue balled into a fist so tightly that she drew blood. "I should've been able to bring her back... My baby was supposed to come back to me, but I couldn't bring her back!"

Karin hugged her again, trying her hardest to keep herself from crying too when she pried Orihime's fist open to keep her from hurting herself.

Orihime broke down in sobs again when the soiled tissue hit the floor. "If she was in distress, why couldn't I feel it? Why couldn't I bring her back? Why couldn't I reject it?" she wailed over Karin's shoulder. "My baby... My Aiko*... It's not fair! I want her back... Please give her back to me..."

At a loss for words in the face of this desolation this acute, Karin simply held on to her until her sobs lessened, wishing with all her heart for her sister in law to find the strength and courage to surmount this seemingly insuperable agony.

"They say that you don't know what you've got until it is gone," Toushiro began, his teal eyes calmly looking at the snow that had begun to fall outside.

Karin sat back again and lifted her head to him silently, realizing that as a Shinigami in training, she should've been able to find the right comforting words. She was nonetheless grateful that he took the initiative, acknowledging ambitiously that she still had a lot to learn.

Orihime sniffled and blinked in surprise when Toushiro came closer and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"But in reality," he continued with a small smile, beginning to heal her small wounds in the palm of her left hand. "You always did have it. You just didn't think you'd lose it so soon."

Orihime shook her head in agreement, closing her eyes to let more tears escape from her eyes.

The tenth division Captain's smile didn't waver as he continued to look at her with compassion. "The time spent with Aiko will forever be etched in your soul, so it is up to you to decide whether you want to look back on that time with happiness or regret. And it is completely acceptable for you to feel like you can't let go of your anger right now, but realize that Aiko knew that she was loved."

Those last words made her fall back into sobs and he let her cry for a few moments before continuing.

"Her name is a testament of that fact. She was created out of love," he said softly, reaching for her face to brush a few tears away. "Have her memory be one of love, too."

Orihime let his words sink in for a moment before she chuckled and nodded, having seen the truth in his kind and piercing words. "Thank you," she whispered, pulling him into a hug he did not expect.

His arms floated awkwardly above her back for a few moments before he carefully lowered them, returning the hug with a small smile.

Karin smirked at the gesture and wiped away a tear of her own with a finger when their eyes met over Orihime's shoulder. "Thank you," she mouthed to him, receiving another smile in response. "Is there anything we can do for you, Orihime?" she then asked softly, taking Toushiro's hand when he moved to lean against the wall on her right. "We brought you some soup, thinking you might want to eat it before leaving?"

Letting her eyes fall on their joint hands, Orihime managed an endeared smile, remembering with pain in her heart how happy she and her husband used to be. Everything was ruined and broken now and nothing would ever be the same. She couldn't imagine the both of them going back to what they used to be. The funeral was in an hour, and all she wished for was to go back in time and save her baby. "I don't know how I'm supposed to face all those people coming to the..." she said, shaking her head before falling silent and sniffling, taking a breath. "I'm not ready to say goodbye."

"And you don't have to," Karin whispered back with a shake of her head. "This is your grief, do whatever it takes to heal in your own time. Funerals are mostly symbolic, letting go of a loved one takes more time than that."

Orihime smiled a little at her words and nodded. "True..." she whispered, remembering the loss of her older brother and the time and the support it took for her to get past it. She then looked at her sister in law, wiping away her tears with both hands. "I think I need my husband here, could you go get him?"

Karin nodded and smiled back, moving to stand again with Toushiro closely following her. "We'll be downstairs if you need us," she said, pressing a kiss on the crown of Orihime's head.

"Thank you," Orihime murmured, forcing herself to smile as they walked back to the door and she watched Karin retrieve her coat before exiting. Her eyes met with the white haired Captain's and she averted them quickly, not wanting for him to see her resentment in them.

Truth be told, she sent them away because she couldn't take the blatant exposé of their still growing feelings for each other, not when her own heart felt like someone had broken and crushed it to dust inside her chest. She didn't want her husband up here with her either, but she knew they needed to get ready for the funeral and that they needed to talk about how to handle the people coming to the house afterwards, because she now realized that she wouldn't be able to.

She turned to look at the scenery outside of the window as she waited, thinking briefly of how pure the falling snow looked, how innocent. Just like her poor baby.

He found her sobbing with a hand palm pressed against the window, curled up on the windowsill and her frail shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "Hime...?" he whispered, closing the door behind him, feeling at a loss of words again now that he was faced with the raw emotional mess that was his wife. They'd barely talked since they lost their first child 4 days ago because neither knew what to say to the other, the pain to overwhelming for the both of them.

He'd tried to reach out for her a few times, but his own guilt kept him from translating his own grief effectively and he understood that she must've been resenting him for his apparent lack of empathy in light of their bereavement. Yet he couldn't blame her for feeling that way because he knew she needed to place the blame on someone for what happened. And he preferred her blaming him than herself. He would be strong for the both of them if he had to.

She finally turned her tear-streaked face his way and he felt his heart break for the thousandth time that week, forcing his face to remain expressionless when his tears threatened to spill over. "It's almost time..." he said in a shaky voice.

Orihime bit her lips and sniffled, lowering her feet from the windowsill to face him. "Could you... Could you cancel the reception afterwards? I can't handle the incessant coming and going of all those people even if they all mean well..." Her voice was shaking as she talked and he wanted with all his might to hold her close against him, but he remained frozen in place, helplessly nodding at her request.

"O-okay..."

"Ichigo?"

He lifted his head hopefully and watched her wipe away her tears with a tissue from the gilded box standing in the corner of the windowsill. "Seen as how, uh..." she began, looking around the room as she fought her tears and stood up with a wince, her body still healing from the failed delivery. "We won't be needing... This room anymore, could you uh..." she bit her lower lip and took a shaky breath, her index finger vaguely, nervously pointing at all the baby stuff that decorated the nursery. "Could you..." she whimpered, the tears flowing again. "Could you...?"

Ichigo stepped up to her and took her in his arms, having picked up on what she wanted to convey. Her small hands were pressed against his chest as she sobbed and lowered her head against them. He closed his eyes, letting a few of his own tears escape, rocking them quietly from side to side.

Orihime sighed and sniffled again, the familiar warmth of his embrace lulling her back into memories of love and comfort now lost. She didn't deserve to be enjoying this, not when all that was happening was her fault

He felt her hands pushing him away and so he let go of her with a defeated expression, watching her place her hands against her mouth and taking a resolute step back. "Hime, are you sure...?"

She shook her head pensively for a moment before making her way to the door. "Just get rid of it," she whispered, voice hard.

He watched her hurry her way out of the room and as his own despair took over and he gave into his sorrow, he'd never felt as powerless, frightened and consumed by loss as he did in that moment. He was too blinded by agony to see an issue to this escalating situation.

It was hard to imagine that their marriage had been happy once, and neither of them could've predicted that its end would come less than a year from that sorrowful day.

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Aiko: Child of love<strong>_

_Thank you everyone for reading!_

**_On to the next one..._**

_**-BDP-**_


	6. Disconnect-Departure

_6. Disconnect/Departure(2/2)_

* * *

><p>The papers lay in front of her on the coffee table.<p>

The house was dark except for the fire that was going in the fireplace in the living room, casting eerie shadows on its walls.

Her fingers incessantly pushed on the button of the pen she was holding, the clicking sound reflecting the unease and doubt in her heart.

Hadn't this been what she wanted? Wasn't this for the best?

They didn't even live together anymore, so what was the point of extending both their suffering? They both needed to be free from each other and signing those papers would help them achieve their individual freedom.

Nothing was keeping them together anyways and it had been this way for over half a year.

Orihime reached for her glass of wine and held it in her hands quietly as she took a breath and sighed in frustration.

They'd tried, hadn't they? Their relationship had lasted 6 years, of which one was of marriage and they'd been happy, right?

She smiled in nostalgia above her glass and closed her eyes, bringing up all of the fond memories they'd shared, briefly wondering if those papers lying on the table would truly bring the relief she was looking for.

The loss of their first child had thrown everything into disarray, true, but if she was completely being honest with herself and objective about the last few months, she had to admit that the main reason why their marriage failed was because of their emotional disconnect from each other. They'd strayed far from the way they used to be, from the devotion they'd had for each other in the beginning, and from the passion their love for each other used to evoke.

Now when she thought about her estranged husband, she only felt weary and lonely.

It'd been almost a month since the last time she saw him when he moved out and it got easier being alone the more time passed, or so she kept telling herself.

Her heart made a jump in her chest however when she heard a key slide into the key slot of the front door. She lowered her feet on the carpeted floor and moved to stand, recognizing his spiritual pressure instantly now that she wasn't lost in her thoughts anymore.

He stepped into the hall and took a moment to locate her before he turned his head to his left and saw her rising from the couch furthest from him. "Orihime, hey."

"Hi," she whispered, placing her wineglass back on the table before running a hand through her messy bangs and hastily put up bun. "What are you doing here?"

"I came up to pick up the formal suits I left behind," he answered, closing the door behind him. "I have a business dinner with some investors tomorrow and important meetings after that," he added quickly when he saw her eyes roll away from his.

Orihime sighed and smiled softly at his ever present kindness. He wasn't obligated to give her an explanation for his actions, not anymore. The way he spent his time did not concern her. "Good luck with that," she said friendly, wrapping her knee-length soft green cardigan around the black leggings and thin black tank top she was wearing and sitting back down, pulling her legs underneath her as she went back to stare at the papers on the table. "I left your best suits in the closet. They're all the way to your right when you open it."

Ichigo followed her gaze and frowned briefly when he saw all the official looking papers on the table. He didn't need to ask her what they were, he was expecting to receive his any day now. "Okay, thanks," he said quietly, his chest heavy with regret as he climbed the stairs to what was once their room. His heart did a small hopeful jump however when he realized that she hadn't signed them yet.

He was still in love with her, but the loss of their child last January created an emotional rift between them that had only grown the more time passed and conversations with her only ended in vicious and hateful fights. There was only so much rejection a man could take after trying to reach out for her so many times.

So when he left last month to live with Chad in his condo downtown, they hadn't discussed what this meant for their marriage, but he didn't expect anything good to happen when the weeks of silence between them dragged on, dwindling his hopes of being able to save their relationship.

Orihime lifted her head again when he came back down the stairs with a suit bag hanging from his right shoulder. "Did you find the ones you need?"

Ichigo nodded gratefully and placed the bag on the floor behind the sofa sheltering the living room from the income hall before rounding it and sitting on it in front of the table with her to his right. He let a few moments pass them by in silence, his eyes staring at the bundles of paper pensively. "When can I expect mine?"

She rested her chin on her drawn up knees and shrugged. "As soon as I'm ready to sign all of these..." she whispered, her beautiful eyes shining with the light of the fire next to her.

He made an acknowledging headmovement and glanced her way briefly, her small frame so very much appealing to him, his attachment to her still strong. "For what it's worth," he said, catching her attention. "I just want to say that I'm sorry."

A wry smile appeared on her features and she shook her head. "So many things happened, it's impossible that all of it is your fault..." she said softly, closing her eyes. "I take part in the blame, too."

Their eyes met then and his heart beat faster when she smiled again. "I'm sorry too, Ichigo," she whispered, lowering her legs again and reaching for the papers. "But I want you to know that you made me happy. Truly. I regret nothing."

He squeezed his eyes shut at those bittersweet words because to him they felt scathing, only underlining the fact that he had failed, failed their marriage, their intimacy and most of all; her. "Stop. Just stop," he protested, beginning to stand. "This can't be it," he said, reminiscing about everything they went through ever since she and him met; from their high school days to the time when he lost her to Aizen, that time when she almost died in the Soul King's palace and when she started dating her first boyfriend in college. He remembered asking her out for the first time and her telling him 'no', he recalled how his heart had ached, how his soul had longed for her, how his days had felt meaningless and empty. That is, until she finally agreed to date him and they began their relationship and he realized that she was the one for him, that he would never let her go. He vowed that he would protect her, their love and later, their marriage.

He didn't understand how they'd gotten to this place where they were now sitting around divorce papers, numbly exchanging apologies to each other, ready to throw away everything they'd worked hard to build together. He didn't care about maintaining the peace with her anymore; He wanted her back and they needed to get back to the way they were, he couldn't let it end like this. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

They'd been through too damn much.

Orihime closed her eyes in an annoyed manner, having guessed what was about to happen. "Ichigo, we've been through this."

"How can you just sit there and contemplate killing our marriage?" he cried to her, watching her begin to stand in turn, dropping the bundle of papers she was holding back on the table. "We can't give up, Orihime. Please."

"Kill, huh?" Orihime echoed sarcastically, folding her arms against her chest angrily. "I seem to be getting good at that, wouldn't you agree?" she said spitefully, watching him regret his unlucky choice of words. "But tell me though... Just how am I supposed to kill something that's already dead?" she whispered back vindictively, her eyes fixed on him calmly. "Hmm? Just because you suddenly seem to realize that you want to fight for it, doesn't mean you can save it. You're too late," she spat viciously with a shake of her head. "It's too late."

"Well, I can't do it on my own," Ichigo replied softly, swallowing past the heaviness that seemed to have settled in his throat. "If I'm the only one fighting, I'll surely fail."

Orihime closed her eyes and shook her head in denial, biting her lips. "Then it's over because I'm done fighting," she said stubbornly with a derisive shrug.

"Why?" he pressed on courageously, looking past her hurtful words and straining to see the loving and warm woman he fell in love with. "Why did you stop trying? What could've happened that made you want to give up on us? Our future? On me...?"

She chuckled lowly and rolled her eyes and face away from him, shaking her head, his emotional outcry enraging her. "Oh, give me a break!"

"No! Answer me!" He hollered, stepping up to her. "You owe me at least that much of an explanation!"

"Because I can't live being married to you when I know I'm the only one to blame for the loss of Aiko! There, I said it! Are you happy now?!" she screamed back in frustration, her teary eyes looking at him with a fury he had seldom seen her express. The words she uttered next felt something akin to taking a blade to the heart. "How can you stay married to a woman who loathes herself for being unable to save her own child? I feel dead inside, Ichigo. I can't love you when there's nothing left within me! I can't keep doing this, this hateful, spiteful, hurtful and desperate dance we do every time we see each other, I just want it to be over! I need it to be over-"

Her last words went muffled against his chest when he embraced her and held on without saying anything.

Her shocked eyes filled with tears and softened when she felt his cheek rest on the top of her head. "L-let go," she whimpered, lifting her hands to push against his chest, feeling the urge to run away from those strong protective arms of his. "Let me go."

"No," was all he said, not moving.

"Let me go!" she now sobbed, pushing harder and crying louder when her trashing barely phased him. "Ichigo! Let go! Let me go! Please...!"

"Never. Use your powers if you want to, but I'm not budging. I let you go once before, remember?" he whispered to her, tightening his hold on her enough without hurting her. "In the nursery, all those months ago. And when I did, I lost you. I don't ever want to lose you again. You're mine."

"Stop it," she whimpered, bending through her knees in a weak and desperate attempt to break free of his hold. His words pierced through her guilt and shame like streams of light through a curtain of dark clouds and she didn't want him to save her, she didn't deserve to be. "Please... Stop and let me go..."

"I love you, Hime. And I know you love me," he told her, pouring all of his hope, despair, need, anguish and passion he felt for her into his voice. "I had no idea that you still harboured feelings of guilt over Aiko's death. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for not seeing how much you were and are still suffering. Please."

"Stop..." she whimpered softly, although by now her fingers were clutching the fabric of his blue shirt desperately as her tears freely flowed. She'd never blamed him, never wanted for him to feel responsible for the way she felt. It had been her responsibility to deliver their daughter into this world safely and she'd failed, miserably. "Oh God...!" she sobbed, unable to deny that his touch and compassionate words felt and sounded amazing and that she'd missed him during those long, lonely months. How could she have thought that he couldn't comfort her? That his love somehow wasn't enough? He was the love of her life, the man who always gave everything he had to fight for her, the only one who could respond to the needs of her heart without fail.

The grip she had on her anger, guilt and shame loosened itself at those thoughts, her arms hesitantly wrapping themselves around him, her face pressing against his chest and her heart wishing for him to lift her up from this dark place she'd lost herself in. "Ichigo..."

Ichigo closed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed together in compassion as he let her cry out the months of loneliness, agony and despair she'd felt after the death of their baby.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a while, taking a step back from his embrace, lifting her tear-streaked face to his. "I didn't stop to think about the fact that you lost her too."

A small, forgiving smile formed around his lips and he closed his eyes, shaking his head. "What you experienced was worse," he murmured.

"No, it wasn't," Orihime said, more tears falling down her face. "What I did was selfish. I couldn't let go... You were in need of as much comfort and understanding as me and I completely neglected you while I was chasing after our daughter who is out of both our reach." She moved in and wrapped her arms around him again. "I was too blind to see what I still have... I still have you," she murmured, her eyes resting on his gratefully. "My greatest treasure in this whole world."

He smiled happily at her and tightened his embrace, letting a tear escape when he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

"I love you," she whispered against his chest, smiling when her ears caught the sound of his strong and reliable heartbeat.

They were looking at the crackling fire in the fireplace afterwards, her giggles echoing through the house as they played at who could burn the most sheets of the divorce document, one paper at a time.

"Hey, no cheating!" she laughed, reaching for the bundle of papers Ichigo was about to ball together at once. "We agreed; because you're so much stronger than me, we'd do it one page per time!"

He laughed and gave her half of the sheets he was holding, kissing the side of her head from his sitting position behind her. She was resting in between his legs, clad in nothing but his blue shirt now that they'd made up emotionally and physically. "Do you blame me for wanting to get rid of this crap as fast as I can?"

Orihime giggled and rested the back of her head against his chest with a sigh. "No..." she confessed, balling up the sheets he'd given her and throwing them into the fire. "I don't ever want to see these kind of papers again."

"Exactly," Ichigo agreed, crumpling up the last few pages of the document and tossing them next to hers in the hearth.

"So," she whispered, pulling his arms around her for him to embrace her. "I want you to come home."

He winced at that and closed his eyes apologetically. "And I want to too, but I've committed myself at work to go on a few back-to-back seminars in Nagoya and Kyoto over the next couple of weeks."

"Oh," Orihime whispered, crestfallen. "When do you leave?"

"My train to Nagoya leaves after tomorrow's business dinner," he told her, pressing his lips together when he felt her tense up.

"Wow," she said, voice trembling a little. "Ikumi-san's agency seems to be doing really well, huh?"

Ichigo nodded silently against the side of her head. "I'm sorry, Hime..."

"Don't be," she said, trying to sound unphased, but failing as her shoulders began to shake and her hands tightened her hold on him. The thought of having to let him go now that they'd finally found each other again was unbearable. "I mean, neither of us expected for us to make up tonight, right?"

"No," he admitted, nuzzling her hair soothingly. "I'll call you everyday."

She turned herself around in his embrace and kneeled in front of him, sighing with a resigned smile. "You better," she grinned softly, leaning into his caressing hand against her left cheek. "I'll miss you..." she murmured with a mischievous smirk, pulling his shirt off both her shoulders seductively. "But not tonight."

He pulled her to him with a wanton smile, kissing her lips lovingly and drinking in her breathy moans as he lowered them on the floor again with her on top, reclaiming their intimacy one caress at a time.

She would have a surprise waiting for him upon his return, the result of their renewed promises blessing them with another child and a second chance for their marriage.

* * *

><p><em>Once again, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for your ongoing support!<em>

_AN: I never take requests and the same will be true for this story. All major events of the plot will be explained at some point, but seen as how I plan and write chapters weeks ahead before publishing them, and as the more observant reader has already noticed, there is a certain method to the seemingly randomness of these chapters. Although each chapter could be a standalone, each one is connected, divulging important plot elements for later chapters._

_**On to the next one...**__  
><em>

_**-BDP-**_


	7. Precious Saccharine

_7. Precious Saccharine_

* * *

><p>She couldn't stop staring at the big man with the funny pink hair, her mind briefly wondering how much she would have to eat to become that big.<p>

"Masaki, say hi to Hacchi-san."

She retreated shyly behind her father's right leg, hiding one side of her face against his calf. "Is he going to eat me, daddy?" she asked worriedly when Hacchi sat himself down on the bench on their terrace right outside their sunroom.

Ichigo smirked a little and sat on his heels in front of her. "Of course not," he said comfortingly, brushing a few of her vibrant orange-brown strands away from her heart-shaped face and out of her caramel eyes. "He's here to help teach you about your powers so you don't hurt yourself or others."

"But daddy," the four-year old girl whimpered, her lower lip trembling with remorse. "I didn't mean to hurt Mamo-chan the other day!"

"I know you didn't, little princess. And that's why you need to learn how to properly use your power," he told her reassuringly, needing her to understand that this was in no way a form of punishment. "You didn't do anything wrong, kitten. Your mother and I are just trying to help."

"Do your best, Masaki-chan!" Isshin called from his seat by their shallow koi pond in the back of the garden. He was sitting with her mother and her brothers around the large, round cast iron table underneath the bright yellow parasol.

"You can do it, Masaki!" both Sora and Mamoru cheered, waving at her when she looked back at them.

Her little lips pressed together in determination and she nodded, encouraged by the words of her big brothers and turning to face Hacchi. "I don't want to hurt Mamo-chan ever again!"

Hacchi nodded kindly. "And you won't, once I've taught you how to properly control your powers, Masaki-chan. May I call you Masaki-chan?" he said, reaching out an enormous hand to her.

Masaki looked up at her father questioningly, mirroring the nod he gave her to the older man. "Okay," she whispered timidly, lifting her small hand to rest it on his. "Hacchin-san," she whispered with a small smile which Hacchi returned.

"Soon you'll be able to have training sessions at Uruhara with your little sister," Isshin remarked when he turned himself around and took a bite from his ham and cheese sandwich. "What are your thoughts on that, boys?"

"I think she'll be a great addition to our team," Mamoru said with a grin. "She's just like mom, so her powers will go great with ours, right Sora?"

The ten year old nodded excitedly. "I wonder which one of our shields is stronger, hers or mine. Does she have Blut vene like me, auntie Yuzu and Adelheide, too?"

"That still remains to be seen," Orihime answered with a smile. "We'll have to ask uncle Uryuu to have a look at your sister if he comes by later, though I think she's a bit too young."

"By the way, isn't aunt Yuzu coming? Everyone else is," Mamoru chimed in.

Orihime smirked at that and shook her head. "Your aunt is still on her honeymoon in Phuket. She'll be back by the end of next week."

"I thought she'd be here... It's been so long since we've seen her," the oldest sibling whispered sadly.

"5 weeks, one day and 4 hours, but who's counting!" Isshin said with a shrug, visibly missing his youngest daughter terribly.

Sora placed a consoling hand on his knee and smiled encouragingly at him. "She'll be home to make you your favorite curry dish soon, grandpa. And I miss her too; she promised to make me lemon merengue pie last June and I'm still waiting."

Mamoru and Orihime burst out laughing at that, shaking their heads amusedly.

"Oh, Sora-chan it's so good that we understand each other," he said with his lower lip trembling comically, exchanging desperate looks with his grandson. "Your aunt has a lot to make up for, that's for sure."

Mamoru and his mother were dying with laughter by then, wiping away tears from their eyes.

"But enough about that," Isshin continued, his expression back to being serious. "If I remember correctly, your Fullbring allows you to change any material around you in an armour, shield or even a weapon, right Sora-chan?"

Sora nodded, "Yeah! I wanted to call it 'The Space Avenger', but uncle Sado and Daisuke said that was lame..."

Orihime chuckled while Mamoru made a deadpanned expression. "It _is_ lame. Superlame," the 15 year old murmured.

"I think that 'The Space Avenger' had a nice ring to it, but I like 'The Knight' just as much," Orihime said diplomatically with a wink to her youngest son, who beamed at her proudly. "Can you give your grandfather a small demonstration?"

"Okay!" Sora said, standing up from his seat and looking around to pick the material to use.

"Show them what you showed me the other day, bro," Mamoru said with a proud smile. "Mom'll love it. Use the paper napkins."

Sora nodded and reached for the small stack of white paper squares on the table, closing his eyes to concentrate. "The Knight; Icarus!" he cried, opening his eyes.

There was a gust of Reiatsu induced wind around them followed by a flash of green light when the soul of the stack of papers got sucked out and remodelled to Sora's wishes.

"It's not completed yet, though," Sora whispered demurely when he emerged from the whirlwind of white napkins with a pair of large white wings attached to his back.

"Sora-chan! Whoa!" Orihime exclaimed, moving to stand to inspect her youngest son.

"That was a nice output of Reiatsu, son!" Isshin complimented him, eyes wide. "And although your form isn't perfect yet, what you managed to accomplish at this age is very impressive!" he said, looking at the slowly disintegrating paper feathers. "If you work on this form, you could fly!"

"I need to grow stronger and learn how to combine two or more materials first uncle Sado said," Sora explained, grinning amusedly when his mother tentatively touched one of his wings and he shook it, startling her. "These paper wings can't take me anywhere."

"Has your father seen them?" Orihime asked, letting her eyes go over the impressive details of the paper attachments, her hands coming to cover her mouth at how beautiful they were.

"Dad was there to absorb the blow of his awakened Fullbring, together with uncle Sado," Mamoru explained. "This was the first form he managed to shift into, albeit with wings made out of black Reiatsu, not paper. He showed us the paper version two days ago for the first time."

"Wow... You've become so strong, Sora-chan! You never told me you could do this!" Orihime whispered proudly, kissing him on his forehead. "Good job!"

Sora grinned back at her and let his wings be consumed by the green flames of his Fullbring before sitting back down. "You should see Mamo-chan's Kougetsu* though, mom! He's gotten even stronger ever since he's been back!"

"Has your training with your aunt Karin paid off?" Isshin asked Mamoru, now sitting back with his cup of coffee.

"Yeah! It was just like dad told me, training in the Soul Society helped me control Kougetsu so much better," Mamoru said with a nod. "My connection to her when I'm there is heightened somehow. I have almost perfected my Shikai, thanks to aunt Karin and uncle Ganju."

"Has she reached Bankai with her Hangetsu* yet?" Orihime wondered, pouring Sora more iced-tea. "I haven't seen your aunt in a while now..."

"I was told that she has," Isshin said, cocking his head to the side in wonder.

"Oh no, she has," Mamoru informed them, lifting his glass for his mother to fill. "She says that controlling Mangetsu* at this stage is a pain in the ass."

Isshin laughed heartedly at that and nodded. "Sounds like her. Then perhaps I should go and give her a visit sometime," he grinned. "See that my successor is treating her well and all that..."

Orihime smiled warmly at her husband's father, thinking of how happy he looked surrounded by his growing grandkids. She felt pride when she watched him interact with them, feeling immensely lucky to still have him in their lives. At almost 70 years of mortal age, she could tell that the pull of the Soul Society was becoming stronger in him and that soon, he'd be returning there to live out the remainder of his days. It was a bittersweet thought to think about, but after Ichigo had told her of the sacrifice his father had made for his mother she understood that seeing the end of his allotted lifespan approaching gave the Kurosaki patriarch a sense of relief after having stood guard over Masaki's legacy for so long. Orihime was proud of her husband and her children for instilling that relief in the former Captain of the Tenth Squad, knowing that when the time came, his rest would be well-deserved and regret free.

"Two swords? Like your dad, huh?" Isshin said with surprise, pulling her out of her thoughts. "What do they stand for?"

"The moon from my paternal side and the sun from my maternal one. One is a large blade and the other is smaller and golden," Mamoru explained. "That's what Kougetsu stands for, Heavenly Moon or Transcending Moon. The merging of two into one, transcending both."

Orihime shared an impressed gaze with her father in law before her attention got taken by the arrival of the tall, chocolate haired half-Mexican in the doorway of their sunroom. A young girl and a young boy followed close behind him. "Sado!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.

"Orihime," Sado greeted with a wave of his right hand when he saw her approaching. "I hope we're not too late?"

She was taken into a warm hug and shook her head. "No, you're fine. It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Sado smiled back, watching how she turned to greet his twins.

"Isobel-chan and Daisuke-chan! Man, both of you become more and more good looking every time I see you guys!" She commented, making the girl blush and the boy chuckle amusedly. "Did you guys enjoy your stay in Mexico?" Orihime asked the girl with the long wavy dark brown hair and the black spiky haired boy, grinning when they both nodded.

"It was awesome," Daisuke answered with a smile. "Every time we leave there, I can't wait to go back."

"Yeah," Isobel said, grinning agreeingly. "It was so great to see the children at dad's orphanage again."

Orihime smirked happily at that, glad to hear that The Joaquin De La Rosa Orphanage was doing well. She then sighed in disbelief at how tall her godchildren had become over the summer. They'd celebrated their 13th birthday at the beginning of the month on their vacation and she was thrilled to see Daisuke wear his pair of high-end headphones she and Ichigo had sent the both of them around his neck. "Remind me your ages again?" she whispered with a shake of her head. "Maybe I should've grown up under Mexico's sun too; I would've been taller!"

The twins laughed heartedly at that, knowing that their mixed heritage had worked out favorably for the way they looked. Although they were fluent in both Japanese and Spanish, they both looked more asian than hispanic, the only traits setting them apart from the average Japanese being their moss green eyes, their height and tan complexion. They were almost as tall as Mamoru now, who by Japanese standards was already tall for his age. Many modelling agencies had already approached Isobel, wanting her to represent them in different fashion markets and her brother already received multiple offers from national youth league soccer teams both Mexican and Japanese for his athletic prowess in the discipline.

"Oh," Isobel then said. "We brought something for Masaki. I hope she'll like it." she then added, turning to her father to retrieve the large pink gift bag he was holding.

"Masaki is right there," Orihime informed them, pointing to her left to the bench where Hacchi was sitting with her only daughter on one of his knees. Masaki had cubes of golden lights floating in between her hands.

"Whoa cool!" Daisuke exclaimed when he saw her, walking up to her a moment later with his sister in tow.

"Didn't Tatsuki come?" Orihime wondered when she and Sado stepped onto the grass to join the others around the cast iron garden table.

"She's in the kitchen helping Ichigo get more snacks to put on the buffet table," Sado answered, waving cordially at Isshin and the Kurosaki boys. He took a seat next to Mamoru when Orihime went to find her best friend and they exchanged a secret handshake before hugging each other. "How are you doing, kid?"

Mamoru smiled brightly at his Godfather and nodded. "I'm not too bad. I've almost perfected my Shikai during my time in the Soul Society this summer."

"Oh, you'll have to tell me all about that during our next training session," Sado commented, lifting his hand for Sora to slap it. "How about you, superhero?"

"I took it easy since the last time we trained in July, concentrating on extending my transformation time with dad, just like you said," Sora answered. "I can last over ten minutes now and make paper wings."

"Nice, little man!" Sado exclaimed, bumping their fists together. "I want both of you to bring your A-game to the next training session. What date is the first Saturday of September?"

"The 5th," Isshin answered, having followed the exchange. "That's in two weeks, and I believe that you guys will be staying with me then."

"Oh right, mom and dad are going on a weekend for her birthday," Mamoru said, remembering. "Are they taking Masaki with them?"

Isshin shook his head. "That's why they had Hacchi come over to start teaching her the basics of her power. She'll be with us."

"How old is mom?" Sora asked, reaching for a red bean paste sandwich from the plate in the middle of the table.

"36, I think," Mamoru said, grabbing himself a chocolate donut from the same plate.

Sado grinned. "Your mom and dad are from the same birth year, so if you know that your dad turned 39 two months ago, how old is your mom right now?"

"Her birthday is the 3rd, so she's 38 going 39." the oldest Kurosaki sibling said, snapping his fingers in realization.

"Wow... Mom looks really good for her age!" Sora exclaimed, making all the other men chuckle. "My teacher at school is 33 and she doesn't look nearly as good as mom."

"Your mother has always been extremely beautiful," Isshin agreed. "She'll age gracefully, if she does at all."

"I hope I look as good as dad when I reach his age," Mamoru commented, watching his parents and Tatsuki step back onto the terrace and act surprised when Masaki giddily showed them the traditionally dressed Mexican doll she received from the Yasutora twins. His eyes then fell on Isobel Yasutora and he smiled gently. "And that I can find and marry a girl just as strong and pretty as my mother."

"All Kurosaki men age well, take it from me," Isshin smirked, making his grandchildren laugh. "And women will throw themselves at you, you'll see."

"Even when you're clearly nearing 70?" Sado joked, eliciting a laugh from the former Shinigami.

"The older you get, the more traction you'll create," Isshin grinned. "We're like good Sake. We only get better with age."

"And you look great grandpa," Mamoru told him with a nod. "As long as I can't beat you in a sparring match, I won't acknowledge your advanced age."

"Me neither!" Sora chimed in happily.

Isshin smiled brightly at the both of them, his old heart swelling with love and pride for his grandsons. "Aww crap boys... Are you trying to make this old man cry?"

"Like it's that hard!" Sora laughed, earning a playful punch against his left shoulder.

Yeah, even a change in the weather has you crying about your joints, grandpa!" Mamoru added, smirking amusedly.

"You little demons," he murmured with a vengeful stare, making both boys laugh harder.

"Yo Mamoru! Sora! Grandpa Isshin!"

They all turned to see both Daisuke and Isobel walk up to them with cheerful smiles.

"Hey, you guys!" Mamoru greeted them, standing from his seat to throw his hand together with Daisuke's before pulling him into a brotherly hug. "You're finally back!"

"How was Mexico City?" Sora asked, leaning out of his chair to look at them. "Man, I saw the pictures that you posted online! Looks like you guys had fun!""

"It was amazing, as always!" Daisuke said, letting go of Mamoru to give Sora a high five."The girls over there man..." he whispered, grinning as he shook his head. "Mamo, you need to come with me just to see them, bro."

Sado chuckled from the other side of the table. "If you put as much thought into your Fullbringer training as you did in girls, Mamoru and your sister wouldn't keep beating your ass."

"Yeah, right. Thanks, dad," Daisuke replied with an embarrassed smile, rolling his eyes amusedly when everyone laughed.

Isshin leaned out of his seat and took Isobel in his arms. "Welcome back, sweet girl," he told her, kissing her forehead and then pressing his finger against the tip of her small nose playfully, making her giggle. "You look very tan, almost as tan as your dad!"

Isobel giggled and blushed. "Well there is a lot of sun in Mexico."

"It looks good on you, Isobel," Mamoru said kindly with a smile as he sat back down. "Welcome back."

The teen girl blushed harder and nodded, unable to meet Mamoru's eyes. "T-thanks, Mamoru-kun..." she whispered timidly, tucking a strand of her long hair behind an ear.

Isshin and Sado exchanged intrigued looks and smiles, but didn't say anything.

A young girl around Masaki's age with waist length platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes then appeared onto the terrace, closely followed by a statuesque, stern looking woman with the same blonde hair, eyes and a pair of silver rimmed glasses.

Orihime and Ichigo stood up from their seat on the bench next to Hacchi and walked up to their new guests with happy smiles on their faces.

"Masaki-chan!" the little blonde girl exclaimed when she saw the youngest Kurosaki.

Masaki jumped off Hacchi's lap and ran up to the girl, bouncing happily in place when their hands intertwined. "Heidi-chan! It's been so long!"

Adelheide Ishida took her friend in her arms and hugged her. "Happy birthday, Masaki-chan!"

"Gertrude," Orihime greeted, taking Uryuu's wife in her arms. "Thank you for coming! I know how busy you and Uryuu are."

"We wouldn't have wanted to miss this, especially since Adelheide was adamant about seeing little Masaki again," Gertrude answered with an amused smile, letting go of her friend and waving at Tatsuki who witnessed the exchange before deciding to also came over. She then took Ichigo in her arms."Hey, Ichigo. Uryuu is on his way, he's having a bit of trouble finding a parking spot."

"Yeah, it's not easy finding one around these parts on a Sunday," Ichigo replied, watching Tatsuki hug Gertrude as well. "Let me go see where he's at."

Orihime watched him go with a smirk before turning to see Gertrude holding up a rectangular gift box in her hands excitedly. "I hope she'll like it, we had it made last month in Zürich."

"Wow," Tatsuki exclaimed.

"Oh my God, Gertrude," Orihime whispered, having opened the box. "We can't accept this..."

"Please," Gertrude insisted. "She's our Godchild, we're here to spoil her rotten with stuff like this."

Orihime laughed a little at that, letting her eyes go over the designer dress again. "I wouldn't even know when she'd get a chance to wear something like this. It's so fancy..."

"How about at our New Year Party at the German embassy?" Gertrude knowingly said with a wink to the both of them. "You're all invited by my father."

Orihime looked at Tatsuki and they shared a laugh before she nodded admittedly. "Yup, that's definitely a reason for her to wear something like this." She then moved in to hug their old friend from college. "Thank you, Gertrude. It's a beautiful dress."

"You're welcome," Gertrude answered, returning her friend's hug warmly. "And it's so good to see the both of you again, it's truly been too long."

"It's really has been," Orihime agreed. "We missed you at the wedding," she commented, knowing fully well that the reason was because of Gertrude's condition and her need to be hospitalized in Switzerland's best hospital in Zürich.

"And I hear it was a beautiful ceremony," Getrude said, smiling softly. "But Uryuu tells me your residency at Karakura Memorial is going really well! You're the most celebrated psychiatrist in training they have," she then said proudly, changing the subject..

Orihime chuckled bashfully with a shrug. "Well, I'm passionate about my work."

Getrude grinned back. "And it shows!" She then turned to Tatsuki. "How many Dojo's do you have now? Last I checked, you were opening another one in Yokohama after winning the national under 16 Karate Championships thanks to your daughter!"

Tatsuki chuckled proudly and nodded, turning to look at her daughter in the back. "We have 4 now, soon 5. Sado and I are opening one in Mexico city next spring for the orphans there."

"So you'll be taking a lot more trips back then, I presume?" the blonde woman asked, following Orihime to the smaller cast iron table at the other end of the terrace.

"Yes," Tatsuki replied, seating herself at the round table and watching Orihime placing Masaki's gift on the table. "It'll be a busy couple of months."

"Well, I hope you'll be here for the New Year Party," Gertrude warmly said, placing her right hand on Tatsuki's left. "I would love to have all of you there," she whispered, placing her other hand on Orihime's. "All of our families reunited to celebrate the new year."

Orihime and Tatsuki shared quiet glances before squeezing the hand they where each holding.

"I want for all of us to let go of what happened in the past," Gertrude continued with a sigh and another smile, receiving encouraging nods from her friends.

"How is your brother doing by the way?" Orihime asked softly, purposefully ignoring Tatsuki's shaky intake of breath.

"Oh, you know him," Gertrude said with a shrug and a small smile. "He's probably gone to find enlightenment with some monks in the Andes or he's surfing with some dolphins in the Pacific."

Orihime grinned back before standing and quickly grabbing three plastic cups from the buffet table in the sunroom and the glass can filled with Sangria*. She offered her friends a cup each and filled them before sitting down. "Glad he still hasn't lost that wanderlust of his. It's something I've always admired about him."

"Yeah..." the blonde woman said, taking a sip of her wine. "He'll be there too by the way."

Orihime blinked in confusion. "Be there where?"

"At the New Year party," Gertrude said with an apprehensive smile.

"Gertrude, things were never settled properly between Ichigo and him, you can't expect-" Tatsuki began, but fell quiet when she saw Orihime shake her head.

"I can understand the need you feel to have us attend the party," Orihime stated in a poised tone, lowering her cup in her lap to stare into it. "But please understand it if Ricart's presence there poses a problem for us."

"You mean that it'll pose a problem for your husband," Gertrude reasoned silently, nodding to herself and closing her eyes. "It's been almost 20 years... Can't we let bygones be bygones?"

"Can you blame him...?" Orihime replied, sitting back against her chair with a saddened expression, knowing that saying no wasn't an option and that she needed to be there for her friend for whom this year's end of year period might be the last. "I'll try and talk to him," she whispered gently.

"I'm not condoning my brother's part in that affair, you know that," Gertrude said pleadingly, reaching for both of Orihime's hands that now rested on the table.

"I know you're not..." Orihime whispered back, frowning pensively at the memories of that time of their lives. "We never blamed you for anything, Gertrude."

The other woman nodded and sniffled a little, smiling at the shared soft squeeze of their hands. "Thank you, Orihime."

She nodded back and looked at Tatsuki who nodded as well. "We'll be there."

"Thank you, the both of you" Gertrude reiterated with a satisfied nod before lifting her head when she saw Ichigo and Uryuu come down the steps from the dining room.

"Seems like your back yard is getting crowded," Uryuu commented when he came up from behind Orihime and hugged her, smirking at her surprised shriek. "Hey, Dr Kurosaki," he laughed.

"Uryuu!" she cried, smacking him on his arm. "You scared me!" she said with a loving grin when she hugged him back.

"Tatsuki," Uryuu greeted her, taking her in an embrace. "How was Mexico City?"

"Beautiful," Tatsuki replied, letting him go and sitting back down with a smile. "How was Zürich?"

"Rejuvenating," the Head Surgeon of Karakura Memorial's Oncology Department replied with a small sigh. "We had some much needed rest," he continued, taking the folding chair Ichigo was offering him to sit next to his wife around the table. He looked at her lovingly and shared a smile. "It did us both a lot of good."

Ichigo smiled at them gently before his attention got taken by the appearance of a Senkaimon in the middle of his garden. "Oh, and here are the last of our guests."

"Finally," Orihime chuckled, standing up. "I hope we're ready for this..."

Ichigo grinned and followed her to the gate, placing his right hand on her left hip as they waited for it to open. "There's no turning back now anyway."

The Shoji doors opened and out floated 6 Hell Butterflies, closely followed by a red-haired girl around Sora's age dressed in a dark purple summer yukata. Her big, dark blue eyes took in her sunny and colourful surroundings and she flashed a happy smile when they landed on Ichigo and Orihime.

"Ichigo-san, Orihime-san!" she greeted politely, walking up to them so they could take her in their arms.

"Michiko," Ichigo whispered happily. "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back!" she exclaimed, giggling at Orihime's soft fingers going through her crimson hair.

They let her go when she noticed Masaki and Adelheide behind them and the two other girls cried her name excitedly.

Next to come from the gate were two younger boys, of roughly the same age, one with jet-black hair and the other deep purple, both dressed in yukatas of blueish green.

"Koichi, Takeshi!" Orihime called to them cheerfully.

Ichigo grinned in embarrassment. "Good catch. I completely forgot their names," he whispered under his breath as the boys walked up to them with giddy smiles.

"Of course you did," Orihime giggled, kneeling to take the boy with the black hair and dark blue eyes in her arms. "It's so good to see you, Takeshi."

"This is for you, auntie Orihime," the 8 year old said, handing her the paper scroll he was holding. "I practised with Uncle Byakuya."

She opened the scroll and drew a gasp at the high level of calligraphy the boy expressed on the paper, smiling when she read the words he so expertly drew. "Strength, Pride, Duty and Honour. This is beautiful, Takeshi-chan, thank you! Would you mind me hanging this in my office?" she said, smiling brightly when the boy's eyes lit up happily and he shook his head proudly before running off to go see his male cousins by the koi pond who were already beckoning for him to come join them.

"I want you to fight me, Ichigo-san!" the smaller purple haired boy announced when Ichigo took him in his arms and lifted him up. "Fight me!" he yelled happily from his position on Ichigo's shoulders.

"Alright, alright!" Ichigo chuckled, looking up at him amusedly. "But only after you've said hi to all of your cousins and after we've had dinner, okay?" he told the 6 year old, who nodded enthusiastically.

As he placed Koichi back down on the ground, the rest of the Abarai-Kuchiki family came through and the Senkaimon closed itself behind them.

There was a moment of silence as all the attendees stared at the couple and the small ravenhaired girl who stood there, looking like they'd gone through the valley of death and didn't sleep in weeks.

"Can someone please come and get all these traveling bags off of me?" Renji cried tiredly, his fatigue so great that he threw all dignity out the door.

Ichigo chuckled and looked back at Uryuu and then towards the back of the garden for Sado to come help him with the ridiculous amount of bags Renji was carrying. Obviously he'd been made into the mule of the family.

"Rukia!" Orihime whispered as she moved in to hug her exhausted friend.

"Hey," Rukia whispered back tiredly, managing a soft smile. "I'm sorry we're late... The logistics that involve getting a family like ours ready for a two-week getaway are insane..."

Orihime laughed and shook her head. "I'm just glad you made it." She then looked down at the little girl in the yellow yukata Rukia was holding by a hand. "Hi Sachiko-chan! Remember me?"

"No!" the two year old girl cried mischievously, taking a step away from her with a smile.

"She's in her 'no' fase," Rukia sighed with a shake of her head.

Orihime only chuckled. "Also known as the 'Terrible Two's'. Not to worry," she then added with a wink to the little girl. "That just means that Sachiko-chan won't have any of Masaki-chan strawberry cake later on if she keeps saying 'no' to everything."

"But I want cake..." Sachiko softly whispered, looking up at her mother questioningly.

"Then what do you say to your kind auntie?" Rukia sternly said.

"I'm sorry, auntie Orihime," she whispered, letting go of her mother's hand and lifting her hands for her to pick her up. "I do remember you!" she then said in Orihime's arms, giggling when she received a kiss on a blushing cheek.

"Do you now?" Orihime grinned, turning around to start following the men inside the house.

"Yeah!" the little girl quipped when the mother of three looked back at her friend kindly.

"Are you ready to enjoy your stay with us?" she asked, smirking when Rukia nodded her head desperatedly in response with another worn out smile.

"Yeah!" Sachiko cried, making Orihime chuckle again.

"Okay!" Rukia heard Orihime reply to her youngest when she felt a tug on the left sleeve of her pink travel kimono, lowering her head to find her friend's youngest smiling at her.

"Auntie Rukia, here," Masaki whispered, turning up her palms and sending out a stream of bright golden light particles from them, directing them to the Shinigami's chest, who felt her fatigue instantly vanish.

"Masaki, thank you..." Rukia whispered thankfully, kneeling in front of the small girl to take her in her arms. "Happy Birthday, sweetie."

"Thank you, auntie. We're all glad you're here. Now our family is complete," she whispered back, letting go of her to run back to her friends and Hacchi who were clapping their hands proudly.

Rukia nodded contentedly and stood again, tucking a strand of her shoulder length hair behind an ear and waving kindly at Tatsuki and Gertrude as she passed them on her way inside, looking forward to a well deserved holiday in the company of her closest friends.

She could not only feel the warmth of the summer sun on her skin, but of all of the people gathered in this place as well, filling the house and their hearts with light and love, making this place feel like a home away from home for all of them, one they could and would always be able to return to.

Their family was now, indeed, complete.

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Hangetsu: Half Moon<strong>_

_***Mangetsu: Full Moon**_

_***Sangria: Sweetened wine with added chopped fruit and sometimes a little bit of brandy. Typical beverage from Spain and Portugal.**_

_***Kougetsu + Author's note 1: Transcending Moon or Heavenly Moon**_

_Could also mean Crimson moon, but I prefer the Yin and Yang interpretation better for the purposes of this fic, which fits my portrayal of Mamoru so much better. He truly is the combined manifestation of Ichigo's Black Moon and Orihime's White Sun. Written with the characters for sun 'Kou' and the characters for moon 'getsu'. Notice that I made neither of his blades black, because he has no Hollow powers._

_**Author's note 2**_

_Thank you everyone once again for reading, liking and taking the time to leave comment! Do not hesitate to ask me questions concerning this fic, if you have them. I will try and answer all questions (Not story requests) without divulging important plot points, of course._

_On to the next one..._

_**-BDP-**_


	8. Overture

_8. Overture_

* * *

><p>She was putting the last touches to her hair and make up when her mobile phone went off on her bed. Rushing out of her bathroom to pick up the call before it ended, Orihime hit her big toe against her bedroom door in her hurry, biting back a whimper as she answered.<p>

"H-hey Gertrude," she whispered absent-mindedly, sitting down on her bed and wedging the device between her shoulder and cheek as she inspected her left big toe with a wince.

_"Hey, girl. Tatsuki and I are coming to pick you up in 15, you better be ready!"_

Her toe was quickly becoming a bloodied mess. "Uhm... Yeah!" she said, hurriedly standing up again and carefully waggling her way awkwardly to her bathroom. "Damn it.."

_"Are you alright? You sound a bit off?"_

Orihime sighed and opened her medicine cabinet to retrieve a cotton pad and rubbing alcohol. "I just hurt my toe trying to reach my phone in time. Guess I'm not wearing those new peeptoe heels he got me..."

_"Is it that bad?"_

"No, I'll live, but the blood is coming from underneat the nail," she replied, moving to sit on her toilet flap, pulling her left knee against her chest to look at her toe again, ready to wipe away a bit of the blood that now colored her toe crimson. "Maybe if I put nail polish on my toes?"

_"Just keep wiping the blood away so it doesn't get gross. It'll stop bleeding eventually."_

"Yeah," Orihime whispered back, doing as told. "Did the guys say what they were doing tonight? Ichigo said both Sado and Uryuu were too busy to hang out tonight."

_"Sado and Uryuu are volunteering at the __hospital.__ They're having a Christmas dinner there for the patients without family."_

"Hm... I wonder why they didn't ask Ichigo to come..." she wondered, lowering her foot back on the floor with a relieved smile when she saw that the bleeding had stopped. "I feel kinda bad for going out while he's stuck at home."

_"Ichigo's a big boy, if he wanted to go out tonight he would've made plans of his own. Besides, __you told us you'd be spending tomorrow with him anyway.__"_

"True," Orihime said happily, standing up with a smile when she wiggled her toes without too much pain. "So..." she then said with another grin, walking back into her bedroom to retrieve her favorite pair of skinny jeans from her closet along with a white sleeveless peplum top and the nude colored, suede peep toe platforms Ichigo bought her for her 20th birthday last September. "How are things between you and Uryuu going?" She wondered, hearing her friend's high heeled feet stepping onto stone before the sound of keys and a closing door came through the other side of the line. She quickly placed all the clothing items on and next her bed to look them over critically. She then picked up her white,structured peplum blazer and a silver statement necklace, arranging them with the rest of the clothes on her bed with an approving nod. She then heard an aggravated sigh coming from her phone and stopped to listen.

_"Now I think I know how you felt when Ichigo barely knew you existed."_

Orihime made a sympathizing face and slid her closet door shut to look herself over in its build-in mirror. "He's super busy with work and school, it was the same with Ichigo and those two are more alike than either is ever going to want to admit. They're like men with hammers who see nails everywhere... If they don't have someone to tell them to stop and notice the world around them, they won't." She paused when she heard Gertrude chuckle approvingly. "He likes you, that much we all know, you just have to help him see that his life is better with you in it."

Gertrude sighed softly and grinned at Tatsuki as they both walked around her car to get into it. _"Since when did you become a relationship guru?"_ Tatsuki asked jokingly when they were both seated.

Orihime chuckled back and placed her phone on her nearby desk, turning on its speaker. "Just giving advice based on what I know," she admitted meekly, taking off her bathrobe in front of her mirror, now in a matching underwear set of purple satin and black lace. She bit her lower lip as she remembered the last time she'd worn this little number, instantly missing her handsome boyfriend more. She'd decided to wear it because he liked it and because he'd made her feel insanely sexy that time and she wanted to feel that way again tonight with the girls.

_"Whatever that __guy__ of yours is doing, he's doing it well... You sound nothing like that timid girl I met on the first day of college. I like it."_

"He's always had that effect on me..." she replied confidently, casting a last glance on her reflection and reaching for her jeans. "He motivates and inspires me like no one else can..."

_"And making the rest of us feel inadequate and kinda envious of how lucky the both of you are that you found each other..."_

"Oh, don't say that, Gertrude!" Orihime protested with a small pout, jumping up and down into her tight jeans.

_"I guess that what __our friend__ trying to say is that what you guys have is like a goal for the rest of us. An example to follow__,__"_ Tatsuki interjected, playfully swatting Gertrude's shoulder.

_"Yeah, what Tatsuki said__,__" _The blond agreed with an equally playful grin.

Pulling her sleeveless top over head as she listened to her friend's words, Orihime quieted and lifted her long hair out of the garment with a small appreciating smile. "Thank you, you two," she whispered, picking up her phone again.

_"Alright, so Tatsuki and I are driving out of my driveway right now; see you in ten, girl."_

"Okay, see you in a bit," Orihime replied before hanging up. She then quickly pulled all of her hair up in a high and tight ponytail so she could turn it into a big, classy bun on top of her head, adding her twin flower pins into its side for a cute finishing touch. She hastily finished dressing after that, having barely put on her heels when her doorbell went off. She grabbed her oversized beige winter coat and a matching hand purse from the hanger in her hall and opened her door.

"Miss Inoue?"

The smile she'd been sporting in anticipation wavered a bit at the sight of the solemn looking, middle aged man in a black suit and tie standing in front of her. "Yes?" she answered warily, taking a hesitant step back inside of her apartment. She glanced at her phone and gave him a friendly smile. "Can I help you?"

"My name is Mr Nagakawa," he replied, holding up a folded note for her. "And I have a message for you, miss."

Orihime frowned but took the note out of curiosity, eyes going wide with surprise when she recognized the handwriting. "Oh...!"

"Your car is waiting, miss Inoue."

She blushed and smiled as she closed the note, nodding once before stepping out and locking her door. "Please take me to where he is, then."

"Certainly, miss," the chauffeur answered, walking ahead of her towards the black Bentley Mulsanne that was waiting in front of her apartment building and opening the passenger door for her.

She took her seat in the back of the luxurious car with a small impressed gasp, pressing her right hand against her mouth in pleasant surprise of the opulence she was being subjected to. From the comfortable and heated beige leather seats with the Bentley logo embroidered on them to the polished solid wood panel that ran all around the interior of the car and the crisp silver accents. "Nagakawa-san, did he tell you anything else about all of this? This just doesn't seem like something he'd do..."

"I was not given any further information, miss," the driver replied from behind his wheel as he quietly drove the car away from the curb. "I take it that all of this comes as a surprise, miss?"

Orihime chuckled softly and nodded, sitting up a bit. "Yes, we weren't even supposed to see each other tonight."

"Sounds to me like you're a very lucky lady, miss," Nagakawa commented, smiling gently at her in the rear view mirror.

Orihime returned his smile and sat back in her seat, turning her head to look outside, her heart filling with giddy anticipation, the questions piling themselves up in her mind. She took out his note again and read it once more, grinning amorously as she tried to figure out what all of this meant.

_Orihime,_

_You'll have to forgive me, but both Gertrude and Tatsuki are in on this. I asked them to lead you into believing that you guys were going out tonight._

_You'll have to pardon my selfishness also, because I want you for myself and I can't stand being away from you for to long. Therefore,__ I've prepared something different for us tonight._

_Let Nagakawa-san take care of you until you and I meet again._

_See you soon,_

_Ichigo._

All of this was different alright, but she couldn't deny that she was intrigued because when she tried to call her friends, both her calls suspiciously went directly to voice mail, proving at least that Gertrude and Tatsuki indeed were in on whatever this was.

Maybe he was doing this because she'd be leaving to see her aunt for the Christmas Holidays and that they'd be separated for a whole week, which is the longest they would have to go without each other since they started dating nearly two years ago. He did mention that he doesn't stand being away from her for too long... So perhaps that was it; a special date for Christmas and because she was leaving.

Orihime smiled to herself and nodded, confident that she had figured her boyfriend out and only loving him more for his attentiveness.

They were driving past the Karakura Town Ice Rink by the Communal Park, which was covered under a thin sheet of snow that only added to the romantic feel of the evening with all of its glittering Christmas lights and promising for a night of true magic.

The car then drove up a quiet road leading to a quieter side of the Park a few minutes later and halted on its edge.

Orihime looked around them only to find their immediate surroundings to be dark and abandoned with no Ichigo in sight.

"Nagakawa-san?" she whispered, unsure.

The older man smiled again and turned to her. "This is the destination Ichigo-san gave me. Don't you worry, though," he then said, sitting back in his seat and pointing at something past his windshield.

Orihime gasped and bit her lower lip with a smile.

"He's right there, already waiting for you," Nagakawa said.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Nagakawa-san," she whispered, getting ready to open up her door to the right.

"There is one last thing he asked me to give you, miss Inoue."

She blinked as he pointed to the collapsible arm rest in the middle of the back seat, instructing her to pull it out and look inside. When she had done as told she found two crystal champagne glasses and a bottle of very expensive champagne inside.

"Please take those with you and as for whatever he has planned for you tonight, I hope you have a good time."

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling brightly at the man. "I hope you have a good evening too."

"It already was," Nagakawa answered, tipping his hat to her. "I got to chauffeur a very beautiful lady in my car tonight."

Orihime chuckled in appreciation and nodded before she watched him get out of the car to open the door for her. She whispered her thanks again as she stepped out and turned to Ichigo standing a ways ahead, shaking her head amusedly at him when he leisurely came closer. "You're unbelievable!" she chuckled when he only grinned and took her face in his surprisingly warm hands to kiss her lips lovingly.

"And you look breathtaking," he said throatily before looking up to wave a hand at his accomplice as he drove away. "Come on, it's too cold to be standing here like this." He took the bottle of champagne and the glasses from her, managing to hold all three items in a hand so he could take one of hers in his other, leading her down a short dirt path through the trees towards a freestanding, brightly lit, turret shaped gazebo in the middle of a snowy clearing that overlooked the Ice Rink and the city lights beyond from atop a small hill.

"Did you do all this?" she asked in awe when they got closer to the pavilion that she now saw had been lavishly decorated with Christmas lights all over, some cascading down its conical roof and off its edges into the open spaces between its supportive pillars while others wrapped neatly around them. There was a small table with two covered plates on it standing in the middle of the structure and four pyramid shaped, outdoor gas heater units in a corner each, which provided much needed warmth to the medium sized space. A wireless speaker was playing some smooth Christmas jazz in the background.

"Well I did have some help," Ichigo admitted with a smile when he noticed her wearing the shoes he bought her 3 months ago for her birthday as they climbed the few steps towards the octagonal platform of the pavilion.

"Let me guess, are the names of those people Tatsuki and Gertrude by any chance?" she chuckled, sighing when the warmth of the heaters greeted her cold face.

Ichigo smirked and placed the champagne on the table along with the two glasses. "Among others, yeah," he replied, walking back to her to take her hands in his. "Are you alright? Do you need it to be warmer?"

Orihime shook her head, eyes focused on his lips as he stared at her worriedly. "No, I'm good," she whispered, completely enamoured with her man. She lifted herself on the tip of her toes and kissed him tenderly. "What's the occasion for all of this, though?"

He kissed her back and looked into her eyes longingly while his hands came to rest on her hips and she slid her hands up his shoulders, smiling when he started to move to the soft music. "Well, I'm sure it has come to your attention that you're leaving for your aunt's place in three days, leaving me here all alone for an entire week."

"Oh, I think I saw that memo pass the other day, yeah," she joked back with an amused nod. "It kinda sucks too, because I'm going to miss Christmas with the girls here."

He laughed and nodded. "Yeah, though I'm pretty sure there's someone else who you'll miss even more. I know I will. Miss you, I mean." He chuckled at his own clumsy use of words when she rose an amused eyebrow. "This is me showing you how much you mean to me."

Orihime sighed in endearment and kissed him again, staring into his beautiful brown eyes a moment later. "I wish we could spend Christmas together again, like last year. I loved spending the week at your family's house. Me going to see my 'dear aunt' is making me think that I don't ever want to spend Christmas without you or your family ever again after this."

Ichigo rose a silent eyebrow at that confession and smiled gently, brushing away a few strands of her hair out of her eyes. "And maybe you won't have to, ever again. I mean if that's what you want."

She cocked her head to the side a bit, having heard and sensed the slight nervousness in his words again. "What do you mean?" she wondered, looking for an explanation in his eyes.

He scratched the back of his head and smirked in embarrassment. "I thought I could draw this out more, maybe ask you after dinner, but I guess that maybe it's better this way."

"Ask me what?" Orihime replied, blinking in confusion.

"I've been apartment hunting," he told her with a small smile and she gasped in total surprise.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me?" she retorted excitedly. "You're ready to move out? Congratulations!"

He chuckled and shook his head, loving her supportive reaction. "You were too busy with school, exams and work. I didn't want your mind to be even more distracted from your schoolwork than your part-time job already does and I wanted to wait until I was sure I had found something we'd both like."

"So, that means you settled on a place?" she asked, her smile only widening itself.

"Yeah, it's actually not that far from here," he told her, nodding vaguely to his left. "And that's also another reason why I wanted tonight to be a bit different because I would like to ask you to move in with-"

"Yes!" she said without missing a beat, making him chuckle when she moved in to hug him tightly. "Yes, I want to live with you. I want to share every moment of my life with you!"

He grinned happily and kissed her forehead. "That's good, because I have something else that I would like to ask you."

Her eyes opened with curiosity and she lifted her head away from his chest in time to see him reach for the back pocket of his pants inside his grey winter coat and get down on one knee. "Oh my God."

"Orihime," he whispered, his eyes fixed on hers amorously as he produced a small, dark blue velvet box.

"Oh my God," she squeaked, her trembling hands coming to cover her mouth in disbelieve. "What are you doing...? What are you doing?! Oh my God!" Never in her wildest fantasies had she seen this moment come this soon in her life, which was why her mind was failing to process what was happening right now.

Ichigo couldn't keep his amused chuckle inside as he watched her lose control over her emotions while he had yet to reveal the ring. "Like you said only a moment ago, I want to share every moment of the rest of my life with you too."

"Oh my God…" she now whimpered, hiding her overflowing eyes behind both her hands before pressing her palms together and her index fingers against the tip of her nose to look at him through her tears. "Ichigo…?"

"I want to be there for you, always. And enjoy to the fullest whatever life has to give to the both of us," Ichigo continued, grinning encouragingly at her when she broke down in sobs at his honest words. "You are the one I always want to come home to. Your love is the foundation on which I want to build our future together. You comfort me whenever I need you to, even when I don't say it. You put up with a lot of the crappy stuff in my life, but you always light up my days with your unwavering enthusiasm and support." He then sighed and looked at her hopelessly. "And God, do I love your smile."

She chuckled tearfully and sniffled, but let him continue.

"You're the one I love, you're the one I want, the one I see myself having kids with, the only one I can imagine living a happy, fulfilled life with," Ichigo concluded, now opening the small jewelry box to reveal a glittering, white gold lotus ring with a princess cut diamond in its centre. "You make my life better, you make _me_ better... Therefore I would like to ask you, Orihime, if it would please you to become my wife?"

She couldn't stop the waterfall of tears anymore by then and she just stood there, staring at the gorgeous ring with her lips trembling. "But I can't even cook the dishes you like the way you like them!" she whimpered in a squeaky voice before sobbing into her hands.

An endeared sigh escaped his lips and he stood back on his feet with a chuckle to hug her comfortingly. "Yuzu could teach you, if you want to," he whispered over her shoulder with an amused grin. "I don't mind cooking for us. And besides, your cooking is only a fraction of who you are. I'm not asking to marry you for your cooking, I'm asking to marry the woman I'm madly in love with. I want all of you, the good and the bad."

She retreated from their embrace and looked at him with sincere eyes. "And I want all of you, too."

His eyes slowly grew wider at that, but he still needed a more direct confirmation from her. "So...?"

"Yes! It would please me greatly to become your wife, Ichigo Kurosaki!" she whimpered, nodding and giggling happily when his tense expression broke with relief and he moved in to hug her with a satisfied grunt that she answered with a tearful chuckle. He quickly pocketed the ring again and took her by her waist, lifted her up and spun them around once elatedly as they both laughed. He placed her back on the floor and kissed her passionately, nuzzling the tips of their noses together afterwards while he stared into her eyes.

"I love you, Hime, so unbearably much," he murmured throatily against her lips. "And I promise you, I will spend every waking minute of the rest of my life protecting you and cherishing you."

She made an agreeing sound and rested her head against his shoulder, smiling contentedly. "You've been doing a fantastic job so far, just keep doing what you've been doing. I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

He smirked and took a step back to retrieve the ring out of its box. "My heart is yours," he whispered, taking her left hand and solemnly sliding the band around her ring finger, looking up at her lovingly when it proved a perfect fit. "Always."

Orihime took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, chuckling along with him when they broke apart and basked in their new found happiness. "You completely surprised me, I had no idea!" she whispered tearfully against his lips before stretching her left hand fingers on his shoulder to stare at her new engagement ring. "It's so beautiful... I love it."

He took her hand in his again and gazed at the ring with her. "It was my mom's."

She gasped and looked at him in shock. "And your dad let you give it to me...?"

"There's no one else we both wanted to have it..."he answered, nuzzling a kiss in the palm of her hand before pressing it above his heart "My sisters adore you and my dad loves you so this was a no-brainer to him. That ring belongs on that finger."

"Thank you… Thank you so much..." she whispered over his shoulder, fresh tears rolling down her face once more. She sniffled and chuckled in embarrassment. "The one time I put on heavy mascara... You pull this one me!" she whimpered, reaching for a tissue in her coat as he chuckled amusedly. "Good thing I went for the waterproof one..."

"You look beautiful, tears and all," he grinned, taking the tissue she was holding from her and dabbing her face dry carefully.

She closed her eyes and grinned back, opening them again when he was done, seeing him pocket her wet tissue. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world because you love me," she told him, pulling him closer again.

He smiled gently in her embrace, closed his eyes and breathed in her lovely scent deeply. "If you're the luckiest girl, I'm the luckiest man."

She smiled and then retreated with giddy smirk. "So, if the others helped you set all of this up, do they know what the purpose was?"

Ichigo smirked back in a very pleased manner. "All they know is that I was going to ask you to move in with me. My dad is the only one who knew I was going to propose to you tonight." He then shook his head as he remembered something. "Well, no that's not true. He's known that I wanted to marry you for a few weeks now because he found the original ring I had bought you in my drawer while looking for clean socks to wear."

Orihime giggled at that, nodding as she could picture Isshin sneak up to his son's room to steal socks. "You got me another ring before this one, then?"

"Yeah," he answered with a sigh, shaking his head at that memory. "I didn't know that he still had her ring. My mother rarely wore it because of how showy it is. I recall seeing her wear it a grand total of three times and all on special occasions."

"Your mother was an amazing woman," she whispered, watching how their hands intertwined as they wordlessly decided to resume their slow dance. "And this ring is amazing. I'm honoured that your father chose to give it to me."

"You're pretty amazing too, you know?" he replied, his lips lightly touching her forehead as he spoke. "That's why that ring belongs on that finger, like I said."

She bit her lower lip at those kind words, wishing for this bliss she experienced right in that moment to never end. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?" he whispered back, resting his cheek against her head when she pressed her face against his chest again.

"I get to call you my fiance now..." she said softly with a chuckle, wrapping her arms around his neck. "My future husband... The father of our future children..."

He laughed and made an agreeing sound. "Well, all of that sure has a nice ring to it, but if we want to get that 'father of our future children' part right we'll have to practice a lot. Like everyday. We're still going for a soccer team, right?"

Her laughter echoed in their oasis of light in that abandoned part of the park while stray notes of the jazzy music sounded through the darkened forest of trees around them.

After they'd had the dinner Ichigo had prepared himself for her, they had another dance while they waited for Nagakawa-san to come pick them up again.

"Hey," she murmured softly, nose buried in the side of his throat as she blinked sleepily, stomach full of champagne and delectable smoked salmon. "You told me that you have the keys to your apartment already, right?"

Ichigo smiled to himself and caressed a kiss against her forehead. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, swaying them quietly to the languid rhythm of the music.

"Soccer practice..." she answered, grinning mischievously.

He returned her grin and closed his eyes. "There's nothing there yet, though..."

She pouted her lips and let go of him to retreat towards a wooden pillar, eying him in playful displeasure. "Does the kitchen have a counter?" she whispered, rubbing her thighs together seductively.

Ichigo gulped at the sight of her, having picked up on her growing aroused state. "Yeah."

Orihime sighed contentedly and smiled drowsily. "Can you bend me over it? I'll keep my shoes on if I have to," her smile then turned mischievous again. "Or if you want me to."

"How soon can you move in again?" he asked jokingly, reaching for his phone to check if their driver hadn't arrived yet.

She laughed heartily at that but soon quieted, watching him come closer to her again with wanton eyes. "Well, I'll be gone for a whole week, but if you were to use your key of my apartment, you could get a head start on the packing. I can get out of my renting contract at any time…"

His eyes had gone back to being serious when he braced himself on an arm against the pillar above her. "We could have your place empty by Tuesday if we get started on Sunday with the gang," he told her, caressing the side of her face with his free hand.

Orihime nodded quietly and pulled him closer to her by hooking her index fingers behind his belt, needing to feel his larger body cover hers. "Yeah…" she said absent-mindedly, already nuzzling the side of his neck. "Can you imagine us making love everyday… without having to worry about anyone walking in on us, or my neighbours complaining about the noise…?" she giggled.

A smile cracked his lips, but he gently pushed her back. "I can't wait for that, I truly can't, but Hime-"

She took a steadying breath and shook her head, suddenly feeling a little nauseous."I know," she said, eyes cast downwards. Even in her mildly inebriated state she could tell that Ichigo was too much of a responsible man to do anything for which she couldn't consent to without her full mental capabilities. And she wouldn't tempt him into doing something he'd hate himself for later either, she loved him too much for that. Plus, she'd suddenly realized that the way she was acting now brought too many shameful memories of her early months in college. "I'm sorry... did I just ruin tonight?"

Ichigo smiled and shook his head, having been able to follow her tacit train of thought. "It's my fault for letting us drink the whole bottle."

"It was delicious champagne though," she whined reassuringly, allowing him to take her in his arms again.

"Let's go for ice cream, what do you say?" he whispered to her, resting the side of his head against hers, smirking when she nodded avidly against his shoulder. "And if afterwards you still feel like getting bent over a kitchen counter I will happily oblige."

Orihime giggled and blushed with a self-conscious shake of her head. "Okay."

"Come on, our ride just arrived," he told her encouragingly, tapping his index against the tip of her nose playfully before taking her beige coat from the back of her chair and draping it over her shoulders. He put on his own coat again as he watched her do the same, taking her hand in his when they were ready to leave. "So, if I want to get you in the right mood, champagne is the way to go, huh?" he joked, chuckling when Orihime punched his arm fun-lovingly.

"That's a horrible thing to say! " she protested cutely with a whine and a pout, grabbing his arm with both hands when they started their descend down the steps of the gazebo. "Wait, shouldn't we be taking all of that stuff we left there with us?"

"My dad is coming with the guys to clean things up in a few," Ichigo replied, keeping an eye on the way she walked over the uneven grassy terrain.

"Oh," she whispered back, leaning against him with a small alcohol induced blush on her cheeks and sighing, feeling amazing. "Tonight has been wonderful so far, you surpassed anything I ever dreamt my engagement to you would be…"

He smiled contentedly at that, breathing a small sigh of relief and grabbing her by her hip when they stepped onto the pebble littered dirt path towards the road. "You're worth it, Hime and more…"

Orihime giggled softly and placed her right hand on the one holding her by her hip and her left hand in his right, squeezing it affectionately moments before she lost her footing over a small stone and lost her balance. "Whoa-"

"Whoops," he commented, picking her up in his arms in one fluid movement. "Yeah… I probably should've carried you from the start."

She chuckled bashfully with her hands against her mouth. "Thank you… Although gorgeous, these shoes aren't easy to walk in when slightly drunk..."

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked her, looking her over worriedly and making sure she was still wearing her shoes.

"I'm fine," she assured him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his cheek. "I love it when you get all chivalrous… It's very sexy."

"You find it sexy, huh?" he whispered back with a small grin, now walking them out of the park and towards the awaiting car a ways down the asphalt way.

"Very much so," she whispered, snuggling up to his chest. "You're a very sexy man. My man…" she murmured quietly with another blush and smile.

He closed his eyes and smirked to himself. "I'm sorry about what I said a few minutes ago about the champagne, given your history," he whispered to her after a moment of quiet. "It was in bad taste."

She quieted and looked up at him again. "It's like you said, 'history'. I'm the one who's sorry for bringing all those stupid memories back by getting drunk like this on this special night."

He kissed her forehead as they approached the car and shook his head. "You're not at fault, Hime, but let's just forget about it, okay?"

She agreed with a nod and then turned her head to greet Nagakawa with a grin through the windshield of the car as they passed it by on their way to the backseat door. "Hello again, Nagakawa-san!" she greeted him cheerfully, moving herself to sit behind him.

"Hello again, miss Inoue. I assume that your evening went well?" he asked, looking at her through the rear view mirror as Ichigo sat down next to her and shut the door.

Orihime nodded avidly and wrapped her arms around her fiance before flashing him her engagement ring, giggling at his surprised expression. "Oh, miss! Congratulations! To the both of you!" he told them, smiling happily for them.

Ichigo smirked a little at that and expressed his thanks. "Do you know of any good dessert parlors nearby, Nagakawa-san?"

The chauffeur put the car in drive and smiled with a nod. "I think I know just the place, sir," he confirmed, averting his eyes from the rear view mirror with another smile when Orihime pulled Ichigo's face to hers and kissed him passionately on his lips.

He would drop them off a newly built park side apartment complex 45 minutes later and watch them kiss in front of the glass lobby doors again, excited for the newly engaged couple and their promising future lives together.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Happy 2015! I wish this year to be filled with joy, love and fulfilled ambitions for everyone!<strong>_

_**Dear lord was this chapter difficult to get out there! I usually work on my tablet when I write my chapters, but it went kaput 5 days before Christmas when I was working so hard to get it posted for the Holidays (Thank Goddess for Google Drive). Unable to find a decent replacement for my tablet on time, I resigned to work on it later on my sister's laptop when she would let me use it. This is the reason it took me so long to get a new chapter out, but I figure that getting it out on the first is a promising start of an already very promising 2015. **_

_**Because I will be laptop hunting the coming days or weeks, I can't assure an update every week anymore for the time being, but know that my notebook is being used diligently now, as I always write down ideas and drafts in ink before translating them into text (thank Goddess).**_

_**Thank you ever again for the ongoing support and love and I shall catch you all soon, on the next one!**_

_**-BDP-**_


	9. Recurve

_9. Recurve_

* * *

><p>Droplets of sweat accumulated on her temples as she strained to keep control over the weapon she held in her hands.<p>

"How much longer?" she moaned, wincing at the sharp sting that went through her right hand fingers holding the bow's string and arrow.

Uryuu walked around her, investigating her posture and Reiatsu levels closely. "Concentrate, Masaki!" he told her sternly.

"But it freaking hurts!" she exclaimed, feeling the blood trickling down her fingers towards her wrist and lower arm. "And I don't know how much longer I can hold it."

"Just a few moments longer," he told her, taking place behind her and adjusting her faltering grip on her golden Spirit Bow. "Now, concentrate all of your Reiryoku in that arrow you materialized."

She did as told with a laboured grunt, taking a breath to keep her output of energy constant.

"Now aim," Uryuu directed her, taking a step back when he felt her Spiritual Pressure stabilize as she focused on one of the small, round targets 15 meters away from her in the white Sekkiseki wall. "And shoot."

Masaki let go of the arrow and it hit the target with a small poof sound, the Spirit Reducing Stone the underground training room of Karakura General Hospital was made of absorbing the Reiryoku from the weapon as it hit. She let out a soft cry and bent over panting, holding her scorched and bloodied hands against the black fabric of her punk rock t-shirt. "Aah… I thought they were going to fall off!" she whined, breathing hard.

"So dramatic, just like your father," the Manager of Karakura General Hospital commented, walking leisurely over to the target she hit successfully. "At least you managed to hit the bull's eye this time. There might be hope for you as an archer yet."

She pouted at him and turned away from her godfather. "You really don't know how to spare your words, do you?" the 15 year old said spitefully, removing her ruined archer gloves to watch her hands and fingers heal themselves "Just because I can heal myself, doesn't mean I don't feel pain!"

"Why don't you fix your gloves, too?" Uryuu asked, stopping in front of the wall now.

Masaki shook her head and rolled her eyes. "What's the point if they keep getting burned anyway? When are you getting me Quincy ones?"

"But you're not just a Quincy," he replied absentmindedly, eyes going over the bull's eye critically. "Plus, you're not ready for them anyway."

"So you'd prefer me getting burned every time I draw an arrow from my Reiryoku?"

Uryuu scowled as he briefly lost his patience and sighed. "Pain is a part of the process, Masaki," he told her disinterestedly, inspecting the other holes made by her previous Spiritual Arrows, briefly impressed by how far they went into the stone that was made to vaporise any spiritual energy that came close to it. "The bow is a weapon of elegance and is wielded with grace and dignity. In order for you to grasp and master the power of the weapon you wield, pain is but a trifle."

She threw her eyes up to the ceiling with a resigned sigh and shook her head, having heard those same words what seemed a thousandth times.

"Besides," he then informed her, turning around. "I don't think Quincy gloves would be enough to keep your Reiryoku from burning through them. Like I said, you're not just Quincy. You're much more than that."

"God, why couldn't my power manifest itself in a sword like my dad or Mamo's?" she whispered under her breath. "A bow is so lame."

"Again," Uryuu insisted, taking another steadying breath and pushing his glasses higher upon the bridge of his nose, "although you are part Quincy thanks to your father, the majority of your powers come from your mother, so you were never meant to wield a sword anyhow. Your mother wields projectiles as well as her offensive strength, so it only makes sense that a bow would be yours."

Another annoyed grunt escaped the teen and she rolled her eyes once more. "Yeah, don't remind me that," she replied coldly.

"You've mastered the defensive abilities of your powers, but you know that those alone are not enough in real battle. You won't be able to master your offensive ones if you don't accept them first," the Quincy told her, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pants. He then smiled encouragingly at her. "Your mom had trouble with that part of her abilities as well, you know?"

"I am nothing like her!"Masaki suddenly cried, stomping her studded boot clad right foot against the white floor and folding her arms against her chest angrily. "And I'm fine with not accepting the stupid offensive side of my powers anyway!"

Uryuu quieted, looking at her with sympathy for a long time. "It wasn't her fault," he then whispered, closing his eyes and turning his head to the side.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath, shaking her head. "Don't," she whispered, turning away from him to hide the swelling tears that threatened to spill over. "Just don't, okay?"

"Masaki-" he started, but stopped when the hidden door on his left opened and Mamoru Kurosaki stepped through.

"Hey, uncle Uryuu. Is Masaki ready to go?"

Before Uryuu could answer however, they both saw her storm past them and out of the room, her school backpack and black leather jacket in hand.

"Okay...?" the eldest Kurosaki sibling commented with a frown in his sister's direction.

"Have your mother call me as soon as she can," was all Uryuu said, walking away from Ichigo's son, a pensive expression on his face as he looked at the hand that had brushed against Masaki's arm a mere few moments ago. He turned around again when he heard Mamoru's agreeing answer, watching the door fall shut as the back of his hand stung, as if it'd been burned.

Mamoru pressed his lips together when he opened the driver's door of his car, seating himself next to his sister with an apprehensive sigh, knowing what to expect next.

"When do I get to see dad?" she asked him the moment the door fell shut. "Both you and Sora have been to the other side. When do I get to go?"

"Hi, Masaki. How was school today? Alright? Oh, I had an okay day at work, thank you for asking."

Masaki huffed and folded her arms against her chest, a murderous look on her pretty face.

"It's not a good time right now to go there, sis. You know this," Mamoru eventually answered, closing his eyes with both hands gripping the steering wheel.

"That's bullshit!"

"Masaki! Language!" he told her reprimandingly.

"I don't care!" she hollered back. "And this _is_ bullshit! We're his family, we need him too!"

"You think he doesn't know that?" Mamoru replied, his voice ever gentle as he kept his eyes front, understanding her sorrow. "Do you think that him being over there is easy for him? That he's enjoying it?"

He sighed, closed his eyes and then sat back in his seat when he heard her first sob. "He has a responsibility towards this world and the Soul Society. When they called, he couldn't leave them hanging."

"But bailing on us is completely okay, is that it?" Masaki whimpered, wiping away her tears angrily. "Mom never should've let him go. If she wasn't such a push-over-"

"Stop it. I get it, okay?" he told her, scowling now. "You're angry that dad left and that mom 'let him' go, but you have to see the bigger picture, Masaki!"

She sniffled and sat back, stubbornly staring at the streetlight right outside her window.

"We need to do what we can on this side to help dad, aunt Karin and Rukia and uncle Toushiro and Renji, as well as all the others we know and hold dear over there. With you refusing to master your powers, how will you aid us when we need your help? You're the only one of our generation who can heal others. You are of an invaluable value to all of us."

Masaki gritted her teeth as her lips trembled and more tears fell down her cheeks. "Yeah, because of my powers. Thanks."

Mamoru now looked at her pleadingly. "How can you say that?"

"Soul Society only calls on you or dad when they need your strength, why should it be different with me?" she replied desolately, leaning with her right shoulder against her door, but more importantly, away from him.

"You're my only sister," he clarified softly. "Just like Sora is my only brother. That's what's making you and him invaluable to me. You're a kind, loyal and good friend to the rest of our friends, teammates and family and that makes you unmissable to many others, not just me or Sora.

And the Soul Society has called upon our father because he's not only the best, but also a cherished ally and friend to many. They trust his judgement, his experience and strength of character. That is why he is one of the Captains fighting in this current conflict, leading and helping the best way he knows how, by giving everyone hope."

She gulped and thought about her brother's praising words, her heart filling with nothing but pride and admiration for her father, pushing back the resentment it had previously been full of.

Mamoru sighed and let his head fall back with a small smile. "I am proud to be the son of our father and when the Soul Society calls on me for help it will be because of the bonds of trust and friendship we have. And like dad, I will have the option of turning them down, but just like him, I won't."

"Why?" she questioned softly, desperate to know, but still not looking at her older brother.

"Because, like him, I understand that I need to do whatever is in my powers to ensure that my family is safe," he answered, smiling wider when she finally turned her tear streaked face his way, her perception growing clearer. "All these powers I have in me enable me to do so and I'm grateful that I can, despite the sacrifices, so I don't turn them down because it doesn't make sense that I would."

"But what about Isobel? And Haru?" she whispered, shaking her head, confused.

"I love them both more than anything in this world. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything were to happen to them and I could've done something to prevent it," he replied, smiling.

"But you can't predict these things. Something can always happen!" Masaki reasoned.

"So should I stop fighting Hollows and the likes because 'something can always happen' anyway?" he grinned at her knowingly. "Give up on my training and start complaining instead?"

She sucked in the insides of her cheeks and bit on them with a scowl. "Not funny," she whispered then with a small smirk, not finding something else to say despite herself.

There was a moment of silence between them and he started his car to drive her back to their familial home.

"But I am allowed to miss him, though, right?"

Mamoru pressed his lips together in sympathy and glanced her way as they stopped at a light, eyes going sad at the sight of her wiping away her tears with her black scarf.

"Of course," he whispered back, sliding his right arm around her shoulder and pulling her in, lifting his head to the side so he could rest his cheek against the crown of hers. "Oh, little sis. He'll come back. He always does."

"How does mom do it?" Masaki murmured, closing her eyes and snuggling closer to her brother.

"She has faith in everyone fighting on the other side," he answered back, smirking proudly. "The same goes for dad. He trusts us to handle things on this side, too."

The youngest Kurosaki slowly cracked a smile, realizing that neither of her parents could've made the decision of leaving and staying lightly. It took an immense amount of emotional strength and will to do either. And they had both been doing it intermittently for the past 35 years! "I don't know if I could ever be like that. It would kill me every time..."

"No one expects you to fully accept the way things are, but as long as you understand why these sacrifices are sometimes necessary, it's enough," Mamoru spoke, retreating his arm from around her and driving on when the light turned to green.

Masaki sighed with a reassured smile and looked at her brother thankfully, admiring his wisdom and loving him for being who was even more. He wasn't their father, but he made for a suitable replacement and that, to her, was comforting enough. "Thanks, Mamo-chan. You're awesome."

"Anytime, sis," he whispered back, smiling lovingly at her. "And guess what?"

"What?" she asked, sitting up in her seat with renewed enthusiasm.

He smiled brightly as she heard his stomach growl loudly. "Sora's cooking tonight," he said, mouth watering.

Masaki's eyes went wide and she felt like crying again, this time from the pure joy his announcement provoked within her. "Oh thank God… He's here?" she whimpered. "No enchiladas?!"

The young father of one leaned over his steering wheel guiltily and nodded quietly. "Do not tell Isobel that I told you this, but…"

"She needs to learn how to cook Japanese food!" Masaki exclaimed in despair, sighing sadly when her brother nodded avidly. "It's been 3 weeks since dad left and I am done with the Mexican take-over of our kitchen!"

"Even Sado has had enough…" Mamoru confessed with a wimpy expression. "But neither of us want to take her fist to the face."

Masaki mentally sweat dropped at the sight of her otherwise calm and collected older brother. "Uh anyway… Mom's cooking is terrible when dad's not around and you don't cook, so Sora's cooking is pretty much my only safe haven when it comes to food. I've been begging him to come back home for days now."

"He's taken the week off from Culinary School to help out mom, I picked him up from the station earlier this evening," he informed her with a small chuckle.

"Seriously, you'd think that with a family as big as ours there wouldn't be a lack of good home made Japanese food…" she muttered, sighing regretfully.

"Well, obviously our strengths lie elsewhere…" Mamoru said, taking a right turn into their street and down the sloped driveway leading to the underground garage, parking the car in front of its large door.

"Yeah, well, I'm having Sora teach me the basics this week," she decided, opening her door and stepping out. "You could learn a few things too."

Mamoru got out of the car as well and shrugged. "If work permits it. Next week is jampacked with numerous therapy and evaluation sessions," the physical therapist replied. "We'll see."

Both their attention then got taken by the front door that opened to reveal their mother.

Masaki hurried up the slope and towards the door, taking her mother in her arms a few moments later. "Hi," she whispered bashfully over her shoulder.

A surprised expression graced Orihime features as she stared at her daughter before she lowered her arms around her, sensing a shift in Masaki's feelings. She hadn't been oblivious to the growing resentment of her daughter and the rift that had grown between them over the past few weeks. But though Masaki's alienation from her hurt her, she had understood that her youngest needed the time to sort through her feelings concerning her father's departure. If taking the blame for Ichigo's leaving was what it took for Masaki to accept her father's absence better, Orihime had decided for herself that she would, just as long as Masaki came to her own terms with the way things had to be for the time being.

It seemed that her hopes and prayers had been answered somehow and she felt nothing but gratefulness and relief. "Hi," she responded hopefully, returning her hug with a watery smile.

"I understand it now, mom," Masaki whispered softly, opening her eyes regretfully. "And I'm sorry. You're amazing and I love you."

Orihime's mouth opened in a soundless gasp and she closed her eyes, resting the side of her head against hers lovingly as she tightened her embrace. She then noticed her oldest walking up to them and mouthed her thanks to him, realizing that Masaki's turn around had to be because of him.

Mamoru tenderly kissed his mother's forehead in acknowledgment and walked passed them and into the house, picking up his 2 year old daughter who came running to him on his way to the kitchen with an excited laugh.

"What's cooking, bro? I'm starving!"

The two women in the doorway chuckled and let go of each other, sharing a last smile as Masaki walked inside to join her brothers in the kitchen.

Orihime turned her face to the nightly sky then, sending a reassuring thought Ichigo's way before turning towards the light filled interior of their house, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Author's note<strong>_

_Masaki : 15 yrs_

_Sora: 22 yrs_

_Mamoru: 26 yrs_

_Orihime: 50 yrs_

_Ichigo: 50 yrs_

**_Thank you to all of you reading and commenting this!_**

**_Onto the next one!_**

_**-BDP-**_


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